Use security defaults if your Microsoft 365 tenant has no premium Microsoft Entra ID licenses and you want a sensible baseline with no configuration. Use Conditional Access if you have Microsoft Entra ID P1 or P2 (Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes Conditional Access features) and you need exceptions, device rules or location rules. The two cannot be combined, so the real decision is when to move from the first to the second.

Who this is for and what you will have at the end

This guide is for owners and IT generalists of small organizations that run Microsoft 365 and manage sign-in security themselves. You do not need prior Conditional Access experience.

By the end you will know what security defaults actually enforce, what Conditional Access adds, how to see which one your tenant is using today, and how to switch from security defaults to Conditional Access without locking yourself out.…