How to configure the self-service password reset for administrators feature in Office 365

This article describes the steps to configure the self-service password reset for administrators feature in Microsoft Office 365.

There are three requirements that administrators must have to take advantage of the self-service password reset feature:

• A valid alternate email address which is not the same user account.
• A valid mobile phone number that supports SMS text messaging.
• The Office 365 company must be enabled with the feature. (By default, this feature is enabled)

How to set the alternate email address for administrators

To set the alternate email address for administrators, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Office 365 portal as a global administrator.
2. Browse to Admin, and then click Users under Management.
3. Click the user for whom you want to change the alternate email address.
4. Click Settings.
5. Under Assign administrative access to your company, under Email address, type an email address that the user will be able to access in case this user has to perform a self-service a password reset.

Or, you can use PowerShell to change the alternate email address.
For example,

Set-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName johnsmith@contoso.com -AlternateEmailAddresses "johnsmith@fabrikam.com"

How to set the mobile phone number for administrators

To set the mobile phone number for administrators, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Office 365 portal as a Global Administrator.
2. Browse to Admin, and then click Users under Management.
3. Click the user for whom you want to change the mobile phone number.
4. Click Details.
5. Under Additional properties, for Mobile phone, type the user's mobile phone number.

Or, you can use PowerShell to change the mobile phone number.For example,

How to determine and set the self-service password reset feature to be enabled or disabled

By default, the self-service password reset for administrators feature is enabled. This feature is a global company setting and cannot be configured per user.

To determine whether the feature is enabled or disabled for your company, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Online Services Module for Windows PowerShell. To do this, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Online Services, right-click Microsoft Online Services Module for Windows PowerShell, and then select Run as administrator.
2. Connect to Microsoft Online Services as a Global Administrator. Type the following command, and then press Enter:
   Connect-MsolService
3. Run the following cmdlet to determine whether the feature is enabled or disabled:
   Get-MsolCompanyInformation | Fl SelfServePasswordResetEnabled
   • If SelfServePasswordResetEnabled : True is returned, the feature is enabled.
   • If SelfServePasswordResetEnabled : False is returned, the feature is disabled.

To enable or disable the feature, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Online Services Module for Windows PowerShell. To do this, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Online Services, right-click Microsoft Online Services Module for Windows PowerShell, and then select Run as administrator.
2. Connect to Microsoft Online Services as a Global Administrator. Type the following command, and then press Enter:
   
   Connect-MsolService
3. To enable the feature, type the following command, and then press Enter:
   
   
   Set-MsolCompanySettings -SelfServePasswordResetEnabled $true
   
   To disable the feature, type the following command, and then press Enter:
   
   
   Set-MsolCompanySettings -SelfServePasswordResetEnabled $false