---
title: Windows Live ID authentication
---

> Agent instructions:
> **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown.
>
> - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version.
> - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt).

Windows Live ID is a single sign-on service provided and maintained by Microsoft. By integrating Live ID into your website, you can allow site visitors to log in to your website using their Live ID (Microsoft Account) name and password.

## How to start using Windows Live ID

1. Register an authentication application in the [Microsoft Application Registration Portal (https://apps.dev.microsoft.com/)](https://apps.dev.microsoft.com/).
   - For additional details, see [Registering your application to use Microsoft accounts](https://docs.kentico.com/k8/managing-users/user-registration-and-authentication/windows-live-id-authentication/registering-your-application-to-use-microsoft-accounts.md).
2. Set up Kentico for Live ID authentication.
   - See [Configuring Windows Live ID authentication](https://docs.kentico.com/k8/managing-users/user-registration-and-authentication/windows-live-id-authentication/configuring-windows-live-id-authentication.md).
3. Add the Live ID web parts on one of your site's pages to allow users to sign in.
   - See [Web parts available for Windows Live ID authentication](https://docs.kentico.com/k8/managing-users/user-registration-and-authentication/windows-live-id-authentication/web-parts-available-for-windows-live-id-authentication.md).

> **Note:** When a user signs in through a third-party authentication service for the first time, Kentico automatically creates a new user account for this user. Learn more about [managing users that sign in through a third-party authentication service](https://docs.kentico.com/k8/managing-users/user-registration-and-authentication/managing-users-coming-through-a-third-party-authentication-service.md).

## How it works

The following diagram shows how the process of Live ID login works.

![Windows LiveID login process](https://docs.kentico.com/docsassets/k8/windows-live-id-authentication/LiveID_login_process.png "Windows LiveID login process")

> **Note:** **Registration approval and double opt-in**
>
> If your site is configured to require[ registration approval or double opt-in](https://docs.kentico.com/k8/managing-users/user-registration-and-authentication/configuring-forms-authentication/new-user-registration-approval-and-e-mail-confirmation.md), first-time users who attempt to log in with their Live ID will be redirected to the standard logon page without any further information, which may lead to confusion.
>
> This issue can be avoided by creating a **Required user data** page where users must enter an e-mail address for their account. When this is done, users will receive a notification e-mail about the status of their account.