diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8e40833d..3140c605 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -70,22 +70,24 @@ The only requirement to use this library is to open a free account with NASA [ED
 
 ### **Authentication**
 
-Once you have an EDL account, you can authenticate using one of the following three methods:
+By default, `earthaccess` with automatically look for your EDL account credentials in two locations:
 
-1. Using a `.netrc` file
-    * Can use *earthaccess* to read your EDL credentials (username and password) from a `.netrc` file
-2. Reading your EDL credentials from environment variables
-    * if available you can use environment variables **EARTHDATA_USERNAME** and **EARTHDATA_PASSWORD**
-3. Interactively entering your EDL credentials
-    * You can be prompted for these credentials and save them to a `.netrc` file
+1. A `~/.netrc` file
+2. `EARTHDATA_USERNAME` and `EARTHDATA_PASSWORD` environment variables
+
+If neither of these options are configured, you can authenticate by calling the `earthaccess.login()` method
+and manually entering your EDL account credentials.
 
 ```python
 import earthaccess
 
-auth = earthaccess.login()
-
+earthaccess.login()
 ```
 
+Note you can pass `persist=True` to `earthaccess.login()` to have the EDL account credentials you enter
+automatically saved to a `~/.netrc` file for future use. 
+
+
 Once you are authenticated with NASA EDL you can:
 
 * Get a file from a DAAC using a `fsspec` session.