Google Passkey: Enable fast and secure access on PC and mobile devices

Google recently announced the new access keys feature for our accounts. They allow authentication without passwords, using only the PIN of our computer or biometric data. In the brief guide we will see how to create and configure Google Passkey on the computer and on all our devices.

What is Google Passkey and why is it more secure?

Passwords were a great way to protect accounts when they were first entered. However, they are no longer secure enough, as they are vulnerable to phishing and data leaks.

Even if we have created strong passwords for our Google account, as well as possibly using it on other accounts, we are still open to leaks and attacks.

Google Passkey solves these problems permanently, since it is generated and stored locally on our device, that is, a computer or a mobile device. This also makes 2SV authentication (2FA/MFA) useless now.

So even if someone gets access to our passwords, it will fail without the private key stored only on our device.

In addition, it is easier to use than passwords, since we can log in with the PIN that we use on the PC or with our biometric data.

We could say that Google Passkey works as a more powerful combination of password and two-factor authentication. So since the passkey never leaves our device, it’s the most secure way to log into our accounts.

The only thing to remember is that we need to take advantage of Google Passkey on devices that only we have access to. If someone else has access to the device or can unlock it, they can sign in to our account with the Google passkey we created.

Finally, Android smartphones and tablets generate access keys automatically when we log into our account. At the same time, if we use Google Password Manager, the access key will be automatically synced to any of our other Android devices.

How do I create and configure Google Passkey?

We are currently able to generate a passkey on laptops/desktops running Windows 10/11, macOS Ventura (or later) with Chrome 109 and Edge 109 (or later), as well as Safari 16+. On mobile or tablet devices, iOS 16 or Android 9 or higher is required.

So, to create a Google access key on the PC we want, we first click here to open the page for the corresponding key.

We need to verify that it is us by logging into our account. Then we click on Generate access key.

A pop-up window will appear, where we click on Continue.

In this tab we can also choose another device that we want to use to create the access key. For example, we can do this process from our mobile to create a Google Passkey with the fingerprint.

Google will then ask us to confirm the process by entering our computer code/PIN or biometric data.

That’s it, we have set Google Passkey on our particular device, where we just tap on End.

From now on, the next time we want to connect to Google or any related service, we can only use the access key.

Use the passkey to sign in on another device

If we want to log in to our Google account on another computer, we can do it again in the same way that we saw before.

Alternatively, we can use the Google Passkey that we just created on our mobile. We just need to have Bluetooth active on the Android device and be close to the computer.

For example, on the other computer we click here to open the relevant Google Passcode page. After clicking continue, so we choose Using a phone or tablet.

If for some reason you first get a popup saying “Please insert your security key into the USB port”, we keep going Cancel.

Then a QR code will appear on the computer screen.

Finally, we open the mobile scanner and as soon as it detects the QR, the corresponding tabs will open on the smartphone/tablet screen, so that we can confirm our identity based on biometric data.

From there, the mobile will generate the new access code for the computer, and the identity verification can be carried out directly from the smartphone.

How do I remove the Google passkey?

If we lost a device we created a passkey on, or created a Google passkey on a shared device by mistake, we should definitely cancel it.

Also, since many of us use third-party password managers and not exclusively Google Password Manager, we may not find the security provided by Google Passkey on PC as critical on the road.

So if we made a mistake or don’t like the access key, we can easily delete it. Here are the steps briefly.

We go to our Google account. We may need to connect. So, we choose Security.

In the “How can you connect to Google” section, right-click the arrow in the password field.

Finally, we select the Google access key that we want to delete and click on the corresponding icon to delete it.

To remove an automatically generated passkey on our Android device, we need to remove the device from our Google account.

We go to the Google account and select sequentially Security > Manage all devices. We select the device we want and click on Sign off.

Finally, if multiple sessions appear with the same device name and we want to ensure that the account is not accessed from that device, we will exit all sessions with that device name.

Is the new Google Passkey feature useful?

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