Authenticating with a trial subscription of Azure Maps.

To use Azure Maps on a trial Azure subscription and get an authentication key, first ensure an Azure Maps account is created, then retrieve the subscription key from that account.

Follow these steps end to end:

1. Create an Azure Maps account
   1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
   2. If not already done, create an Azure Maps account:
      • Go to Create a resource → search for Azure Maps → create an account (for example, kind "Gen2" and an appropriate SKU).
      • This step is required even if the Azure subscription itself is in free/trial mode.
2. Open the Azure Maps account
   1. In the Azure portal, select All resources.
   2. Select the Azure Maps account that was created.
3. Get the subscription key (Shared Key authentication)
   1. In the left pane of the Maps account, under Settings, select Authentication.
   2. Under Shared Key authentication, locate Primary Key and Secondary Key.
   3. Copy the Primary Key. This is the subscription key used by your application.
   This key is what Bing Maps applications typically expect as an API key equivalent when calling Azure Maps REST APIs or SDKs. For example, with REST calls:

      https://atlas.microsoft.com/map/tile?subscription-key={Your-Azure-Maps-Subscription-key}&api-version=2024-04-01&tilesetId=microsoft.base.road&zoom=15&x=5236&y=12665&tileSize=256
   

4. Use the key in an application (example)
   • For a simple JavaScript/TypeScript app using the Azure Maps REST SDK:

          MAPS_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY="<subscription-key>"
     

          const MapsSearch = require("@azure-rest/maps-search").default;
          const { AzureKeyCredential } = require("@azure/core-auth");
          require("dotenv").config();
          
          const credential = new AzureKeyCredential(process.env.MAPS_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY);
          const client = MapsSearch(credential);
     

   • For .NET (Geolocation client example):

          AzureKeyCredential credential = new AzureKeyCredential("<My Subscription Key>");
          MapsGeolocationClient client = new MapsGeolocationClient(credential);
     

5. If the Authentication blade “doesn’t work”
   • Confirm that the Azure Maps account was actually created (step 1). The subscription alone is not enough; the Maps resource must exist.
   • Open All resources and verify the Maps account is listed and selectable.
   • Once inside that resource, the Authentication blade is where the keys appear; if it is empty or missing, the Maps account may not have been created correctly and should be recreated.

For production, Microsoft Entra ID authentication is recommended, but for a trial and for updating an existing Bing Maps application, Shared Key (subscription key) is the simplest path.

References:

• Authentication with Azure Maps
• Manage authentication in Azure Maps
• Quickstart: Create an interactive search map with Azure Maps
• Migrate from Bing Maps to Azure Maps overview
• Secure an input constrained device by using Microsoft Entra ID and Azure Maps REST APIs
• JavaScript/TypeScript REST SDK Developers Guide (preview)
• Azure Maps Geolocation client library for .NET - version 1.0.0-beta.3
• Migrate Bing Maps Get a Static Map API