FIX: “Problem Verifying Your Identity” after Salesforce MFA/passkey changes
I wanted to share the solution to a frustrating Salesforce login problem in case it saves someone else a lot of troubleshooting.
I am the sole user/System Administrator of my Salesforce org. After the recent MFA/passkey changes, I began receiving this error when trying to log in:
“Problem Verifying Your Identity. To log in, you need both a higher access level and an identity verification method. Contact your administrator to gain login access.”
I already had Salesforce Authenticator and a registered passkey. The passkey worked on My Macbook laptop but I had inconsistent or failed logins on my iMac desktop. I tried different browsers, clearing cache, temporary verification codes, etc.
I eventually had a Google Meet with a Salesforce support technician. After I shared my screen, he spotted the problem almost immediately:
Lightning Login was still enabled on my user account.
The fix took about one minute:
Profile photo → Settings → My Personal Settings → Advanced User Details → scroll down to Lightning Login → Cancel
After canceling Lightning Login, I was immediately able to log into Salesforce normally using Google Chrome and my passkey.
For anyone encountering this specific error after the new phishing-resistant MFA/passkey rollout, I strongly recommend checking whether Lightning Login is still enabled before spending hours troubleshooting passkeys, browsers, MFA settings, or devices.
I hope this saves someone else the time it took me to find the solution.
I’m seeing similar behavior. We use Azure Active Directory SSO, but after users click “Log in using Azure Active Directory,” Salesforce redirects them to its Create a Passkey screen and pushes additional Salesforce authentication/verification setup.
Using a Microsoft Authenticator one off password gets the user in, but the Salesforce passkey prompt returns. That’s the issue I’m trying to resolve... users are authenticating through our SSO provider, yet Salesforce is still inserting its own enrollment/verification flow.