If you’re tired of being reminded to use a password manager to remember all your passwords (that you definitely don’t reuse), passwords could be a great alternative to increase your security. They allow you to forgo passwords altogether for a brand of two-factor authentication that’s more secure and convenient than one-time passwords ever were.
Passwords are a way of using your phone or other device to securely log in to various sites and services. It’s something you’ve been able to use on your phone for a while now, but passwords are now part of Windows 11’s 22H2 build (and the upcoming 23H2) and you can start using them right away.
How to use passwords on a website
You can use passwords on a variety of websites, but for our example we’ll use Gmail. You can find a list of services that are compatible with Passkeys at Passkeys.io.
Step 1: Go to the Google Passkey page, here. Sign in if prompted, then select Create an access key.
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Step 2: A pop-up will appear asking you to verify your identity using Windows Hello or set it up first. If you haven’t set it up, do so by following the on-screen instructions. If you have one, use your biometric or other login system to verify your identity and generate an access key.
If Google gives you a device choice, select your computer before completing the Windows Hello sign-in.
Step 3: Now that you’ve created your passkey, it’s a good idea to test if it works. Go to your Gmail account, then sign out and try signing in again. Now, when you try to do this, Google should ask you to use a password instead of a password. choose Continue to do so (or choose Try another way if you’d rather use your password as usual).
Step 4: A Windows Hello pop-up window should appear asking you for a biometric login, PIN or security key, depending on how your Windows Hello is configured. Give and choose ALRIGHT.
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Step 5: This should sign you into your Google account. Now you have a quick password login for Google. It should also be stored across multiple browsers on the same device, so if you sign in with another compatible browser instead, you can use your passkey here and there.
You can add access keys for other websites, although the process for adding them will vary slightly depending on the website.
How to manage access keys in Windows 11
You can view all of your passwords in Windows 11. There’s not much you can do with them other than delete the ones you no longer want or need, but it’s a good way to check which services you’ve set up to use the password.
Step 1: Open Windows 11 settings menu by pressing Windows key + I.
Step 2: Choose Accounts from the left menu.
Step 3: Choose Password settings.
Step 4: On this screen, you can view or search your passkey list. To delete any of them, select the three-dot menu on the right and select Delete.
What are passwords?
Passwords are a secure alternative to password logins that use a known secure device, such as a Windows 11 desktop, to confirm your identity.
Passwords have two main components: a public key held by the website or service you want to sign in to, and a private key held by your device. When you try to sign in to a website or service, your device authenticates you using your private key, but without providing the service. This means that there is no chance of your security being compromised and it makes it impossible to reverse engineer your code. In addition to eliminating the need to remember complicated, unique passwords, passkeys give hackers one more step to take to compromise your accounts, making it much less likely to be worth their time and effort.
Passwords let you enter a username/email and then verify your ID with a password — which can be as simple as showing your face to your webcam, thanks to Windows Hello.
Passwords are a password and two-factor authentication system in one.
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