How to Set Up Passkeys

Use your device fingerprint, Face ID, or screen lock PIN to sign in safely without ever typing or remembering a password.

What you need before you start

To make setup simple and avoid switching screens back and forth on one tiny display, use a laptop or tablet together with your mobile phone:

Setup Recommendation: Open your account website on your laptop, PC, or tablet while holding your mobile phone in your hand. This allows your laptop to display the secure linking code while your phone captures it instantly using its camera and biometrics.
1. Laptop or Tablet Sign in to your account portal and open the security dashboard.
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2. Mobile Phone Scan the screen code and confirm with your fingerprint or face.
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3. Verified Instantly Your secure cryptographic passkey is created and ready for sign-in.

Passkeys vs Authenticator apps: What is the difference?

Both options improve your account safety beyond a standard password, but they work quite differently:

Authenticator Apps

How they work: You must still remember and type your regular text password. Next, you unlock your phone, open an app like Google Authenticator, read a 6-digit number, and quickly type it before the timer expires.

The weakness: If a criminal tricks you with a fake link, you might accidentally type both your password and your 6-digit code into their fake website.

Passkeys (The Modern Standard)

How they work: Passwords and temporary numbers are replaced completely. You click sign in and simply touch your fingerprint scanner, face unlock, or enter your device screen PIN.

The superpower: Passkeys cannot be phished. The underlying cryptography verifies that the website address is genuine before approving access. A fake website cannot intercept your passkey.

Which method of adding a passkey is better and stronger?

When you create a passkey, you will often see choices for where to store it. Here is how they compare:

1. Synced Cloud Passkeys (Google Password Manager, Apple iCloud Keychain, Samsung Pass)

Verdict: Best balance of security and convenience. The keys are protected by your device screen lock and backed up across your connected devices using end-to-end encryption. If you lose your phone, you do not get locked out.
2. Physical FIDO2 Hardware Keys (YubiKey or USB / NFC Security Keys)

Verdict: Highest possible security. The private key never leaves the physical USB token. However, if you lose the key and have no backup key configured, recovery can be difficult.
3. Device-Bound Local Keys (Single PC or Mac hardware module)

Verdict: Strong, but localized. The key stays exclusively inside that specific machine. You must create an additional passkey if you intend to sign in from your mobile phone.

Setting up your passkey manager on Android & Samsung

Before you create your first passkey, your Android or Samsung phone must have a safe vault ready to store it. On Android, passkeys are stored in Google Password Manager or Samsung Pass / Samsung Wallet. Follow the setup below for the service you prefer:

Option A: Google Password Manager (Recommended for all Android phones)

Google Password Manager is built directly into Android Google Play Services. It requires no extra downloads and automatically synchronizes across all your devices signed in with your Google Account.

  1. Open Android Settings: On your Android phone, tap the gear icon to open Settings.
  2. Find Google Settings: Scroll down and tap on Google (or Google Services).
  3. Open Password Manager: Tap on the All Services tab (if shown), then tap Password Manager.
  4. Confirm Your Google Account: Ensure your main Gmail address is displayed at the top. If not, tap your profile picture and switch to your primary account.
  5. Add a Home Screen Shortcut (Optional but helpful): Tap the gear icon in the top right corner of Password Manager and select Add shortcut to your home screen so you can open it like any normal app.
  6. Set as Default Autofill Provider: Go back to phone Settings > System > Languages & input (or General Management > Passwords and autofill on Samsung) and confirm that Google is selected as your default autofill service.
✓ Ready: Any passkey you save will now be backed up to your encrypted Google Password Manager.

Option B: Samsung Pass & Samsung Wallet (For Samsung Galaxy users)

If you prefer keeping passkeys in Samsung Knox secure storage, you can use Samsung Pass built into Samsung Wallet.

  1. Create or Sign in to a Samsung Account: Open your Galaxy phone Settings. Look at the very top: if your name is not there, tap Samsung account. Tap Create account (or sign in with your email/Google account) and agree to the terms.
  2. Install or Open Samsung Wallet: Open the Galaxy Store app on your Samsung phone. Search for Samsung Wallet (which includes Samsung Pass) and tap Install or Update.
  3. Complete Initial Setup: Open Samsung Wallet. Tap Continue, accept permissions, and register your fingerprint when prompted. This ties your biometric security to your Samsung Pass vault.
  4. Set Samsung Pass as Default: Open phone Settings > General Management > Passwords, passkeys and autofill. Under the Autofill service heading, select Samsung Pass.
✓ Ready: Your Samsung Pass vault is configured to store passkeys protected by Samsung Knox hardware security.

Choose your device walkthrough

Follow the specific walkthrough for your hardware platform:

1. Android & Samsung 2. Apple iPhone / iPad 3. Windows PC 4. Mac
1. ANDROID & SAMSUNG GUIDE

Create a Passkey on Android & Samsung Devices

Follow these exact steps using your laptop browser and your Android phone together to link and save your passkey:

Laptop Browser → myaccount.google.com → Security → Passkeys → Phone Camera Scan → Biometric Confirm
  1. Ensure your phone screen lock is active:
    • On stock Android (Google Pixel, Motorola, Xiaomi): Open Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Screen lock. Set a secure PIN, and register your Fingerprint Unlock or Face Unlock.
    • On Samsung Galaxy: Open Settings > Security and privacy > Lock screen (set a PIN), then tap Biometrics to add your Fingerprints.
  2. Confirm your autofill and passkey provider:
    • On Samsung Galaxy: Open Settings > General Management > Passwords, passkeys and autofill. Under the Autofill service section, tap the radio button next to Google (recommended for syncing with non-Samsung PCs) or Samsung Pass.
    • On other Android phones: Open Settings > Google > Autofill > Autofill with Google and ensure the main toggle switch is turned ON.
  3. Open your account security dashboard on your laptop:
    On your laptop or desktop computer, open your browser (Chrome, Edge, or Firefox) and navigate to your account portal (for example, go directly to myaccount.google.com). Sign in with your email and password if asked.
  4. Locate the passkey settings menu:
    In the left-hand navigation menu of your Google Account page, click the Security tab. Scroll down to the section titled How you sign in to Google. Click directly on the row labeled Passkeys and security keys. (You will be prompted to type your account password one last time to confirm your identity).
  5. Initiate passkey creation:
    On the Passkeys page, look for the blue button that says + Create a passkey (or Add passkey) and click it.
  6. Direct the passkey to your mobile phone:
    Your laptop browser will show a prompt asking: "Where do you want to save this passkey?" Click on Use another device, and then select Phone or tablet (or Android device). A square, black-and-white QR barcode will immediately display on your laptop monitor.
  7. Scan the laptop screen with your phone camera:
    Pick up your Android or Samsung phone and open the built-in Camera app. Point the phone camera at the QR code on your laptop display. A yellow or white banner will pop up on your phone screen saying Use passkey (or Save a passkey). Tap this banner immediately.
  8. Authorize with your fingerprint or PIN:
    A prompt from Google Play Services (or Samsung Pass) will appear on your phone asking you to verify. Touch your registered fingerprint on the phone sensor or type your device PIN. Your laptop screen will instantly refresh and show a green checkmark saying: "Passkey saved".
✓ Done: The passkey is permanently bound to your phone's biometric vault and backed up to your cloud account.
2. APPLE IPHONE / IPAD GUIDE

Create a Passkey on Apple iPhone & iPad

Apple automatically saves passkeys inside your end-to-end encrypted iCloud Keychain.

iPhone Settings → Apple Account → iCloud → Passwords & Keychain (ON) → Safari / Laptop
  1. Turn on iCloud Keychain: On your iPhone, open Settings > tap your Name at the top > iCloud > Passwords and Keychain. Ensure the toggle switch is turned ON.
  2. Open the website security page: On your laptop or directly inside Safari on your iPhone, sign in to the website you want to protect and open Security Settings.
  3. Select Passkeys: Tap or click on Passkeys or Two-Step Verification, then select + Add a Passkey.
  4. Trigger Apple verification: A card will appear from the bottom of your screen saying: "Do you want to save a passkey for [account]?"
  5. Confirm with Face ID or Touch ID: Tap Continue. Glancing at your screen with Face ID or touching Touch ID stores the passkey immediately.
✓ Done: The passkey is instantly synced across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac signed in to your Apple ID.
3. WINDOWS PC GUIDE

Create a Passkey on Windows 10 & 11

Windows computers can save passkeys locally using Windows Hello or connect to your phone.

Windows Settings → Accounts → Sign-in options (Hello PIN) → Edge/Chrome → Security
  1. Configure Windows Hello: Go to Start > Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options. Ensure you have a Windows Hello PIN, fingerprint, or facial recognition set up.
  2. Open your web browser: Open Edge or Chrome and sign in to the target service website.
  3. Navigate to Passkeys: Go to Account Settings > Security > Passkeys and click Create a passkey.
  4. Select Windows Hello: When the blue Windows system prompt appears, choose Windows Hello or external security key.
  5. Authorize the key: Type your computer PIN or touch the laptop fingerprint scanner to finish.
✓ Done: Your Windows computer can now log you into this account using just your Windows Hello PIN or biometrics.
4. MAC (MACOS) GUIDE

Create a Passkey on Mac (macOS)

Use Safari and Touch ID to save hardware-backed passkeys directly on your Mac.

Safari → Target Service → Account Security → Passkeys → Touch ID Prompt
  1. Verify Touch ID or password: Ensure your Mac has Touch ID configured under System Settings > Touch ID & Password.
  2. Visit the website in Safari: Go to the website, sign in, and open the Security settings panel.
  3. Select Add Passkey: Click Create Passkey. Safari will drop down a prompt: "Do you want to save a passkey for this account?"
  4. Touch the fingerprint sensor: Tap your finger on the keyboard Touch ID button or type your Mac login password to confirm.
✓ Done: Next time Safari shows this login, touching the fingerprint scanner logs you in immediately.

If you lose your phone: How to recover all your passkeys

A common concern is: "What happens if my phone is lost, stolen, or drops in water?" Because modern passkeys are backed up to your encrypted cloud account, recovery is simple:

1. For Android & Samsung Get your replacement Android or Samsung phone. Sign in with the exact same Google Account (or Samsung account). Google Password Manager downloads your encrypted passkeys automatically. Confirm your screen lock to unlock them.
2. For iPhone & iPad Turn on your new Apple device and sign in with your Apple ID. Complete the two-factor check and enable iCloud Keychain. Every passkey synchronizes to your new device right away.
3. Immediate Security Step Open your account security dashboard from your laptop. Under Passkeys and devices, find the old lost phone and click Remove or Revoke so it can never be used again.
Essential Account Protection: Before removing old passwords or relying only on passkeys, make sure your backup recovery email, phone number, and emergency backup codes are fully verified and up to date.

Essential passkey safety checklist

  • Keep your mobile phone protected with a strong screen lock PIN or biometric scan.
  • Ensure cloud sync is active (Google Password Manager, iCloud Keychain, or Samsung Pass).
  • Never set up a passkey on a public, school, or shared library computer.
  • Keep an alternate sign-in method active on important accounts as a safety fallback.
  • If a device goes missing, revoke its access immediately from your laptop browser.