What Are Passkeys? How to Set Up This New, Safer Way to Sign In

A passkey is a new way to sign in to websites and apps without typing a password. Instead, you unlock your account using your fingerprint, your face, or your device's screen lock (like a PIN), the same way you already unlock your phone. Passkeys are built into iPhones, Android phones, Windows computers, and Macs, and more websites add support for them every month, including Google, Amazon, PayPal, and many banks.

Passkeys are safer than passwords for two main reasons. First, there is nothing to type, remember, or write down. So there is no password for a scammer to steal through a phishing email or a data breach. Second, a passkey only works on the real website it was created for, so even if you're tricked into clicking a fake link that looks like your bank, the fake site cannot use your passkey to log in. Passkeys are stored securely on your device (and often synced across your devices through your Apple, Google, or Microsoft account), rather than sitting on a company's server where hackers can steal thousands of passwords at once.

You do not need to switch every account to a passkey right away. Start with the accounts that matter most — email, banking, and any account with your payment information saved — and add a passkey next to your existing password. Most sites let you keep both options for a while, so if something goes wrong you can still sign in the old way. Source: support.apple.com/en-us/102195 (Passkeys on iPhone) and support.google.com/accounts/answer/13548313 (Passkeys with Google).