Passkeys and security keys

Sites that offer passkeys or security keys ask the Browser to confirm it's you. What you see then depends on your computer.

On Windows

Windows shows its own Windows Security dialog. From there you can use:

• A Windows Hello passkey, with your PIN, face, or fingerprint.
• A USB or NFC security key.
• On Windows 11, a phone or tablet, by scanning a QR code.

Windows 10 can't use a phone, so a passkey that only lives on your phone, or in Google Password Manager, can't be used there. When Windows has no passkey for the site, it asks for a security key instead. A passkey you made on another PC looks like that too: it's listed in your account, but this computer doesn't have it.

On Mac and Linux

Plug in your USB security key before you sign in, then touch it when the site asks. A key that only needs a touch works; one that also asks for a PIN may not.

If nothing on your computer can answer the site, the Browser tells the site straight away rather than leaving the page waiting. Most sites, Google among them, then offer Try another way.

Choosing between passkeys

When you have more than one passkey for a site, the Browser asks which one to use. Cancel stops the sign-in.

1Password

The 1Password extension handles passkeys saved in 1Password itself. It needs the 1Password app to unlock, and the app only connects to browsers you allow.

The first time 1Password turns the Browser away, the Browser explains this once and offers to open 1Password for you.

Limits

• Passkey autofill, where a sign-in field suggests your passkeys as you click it, isn't supported. Sites fall back to their own passkey button.
• Passkeys requested from a sign-in box embedded from another site may not work.