When was the last time you thought about how you log in to your accounts?
Or how secure those logins really are?
For years, we’ve relied on passwords. But let’s be honest, passwords are a pain. They’re easy to forget, often reused, and a prime target for cyber criminals.
That’s where passkeys come in. And, at last, Windows is making it much easier to use them.
So… what is a passkey?
Think of it as a modern replacement for your password. Instead of typing in a string of characters that could be stolen or guessed, a passkey lets you sign in using something far safer. Your face, fingerprint, or a secure PIN tied to your device.
Behind the scenes, passkeys work using advanced cryptography. There’s no password for hackers to steal, because the passkey is made up of two parts: One stays on your device, and one stays with the service you’re logging into.
They work together like a lock and key. But the key never leaves your pocket, so to speak. And because you can’t accidentally hand it over, it’s much harder for phishing scams to trick you.
Until now, using passkeys in Windows has felt clunky. You often had to rely on third-party apps or websites, and it wasn’t always clear how to set things up or manage them.
