What are Passkeys? And Why You Might Want to Start Using Them

What are Passkeys? And Why You Might Want to Start Using Them

Imagine you’re trying to unlock your front door. Instead of using a key that you have to remember and carry around, you could just use your fingerprint. That’s kind of like what passkeys are for online accounts.

Passkeys are a safer and more convenient way to log in to websites and apps. Instead of remembering complex passwords, you can use your fingerprint, facial recognition, or a PIN to unlock your device. When you try to log in to a website that supports passkeys, your device will verify your identity using this biometric data.

Why should you use them?

• Security: Passkeys are much harder to hack than passwords. They’re protected by strong cryptographic technology that makes them almost impossible to steal.

• Convenience: You don’t have to remember or type passwords anymore. Just use your device’s built-in security features.

• Simplicity: Setting up passkeys is easy, and they work seamlessly across different devices and platforms.

We’re going to use Google Accounts as an example of how to use passkeys if you’re using Windows. To generate a passkey for your Google account follow these steps:

* Open the Google account page.

* Sign in with your password.

* Click on Security from the left navigation page.

* Click the Passkeys option under the “How you sign in to Google” section.

Passkeys are a big step forward in online safety, security, and convenience. They’re a more secure and user-friendly alternative to traditional passwords. So if the sites and apps you use support Passkeys, you might want to use them instead of passwords.

If you want to learn more about Passkeys, see this Google guide.