Bitwarden begins adding passkey support to its password manager

Bitwarden begins adding passkey support to its password manager

Bitwarden has added support for the more secure passkey login method. | Image: Bitwarden

Bitwarden, one of our top picks for free password managers, is adding support for passkeys in the latest version of its browser extensions. Passkeys can use your device’s pin, face, or fingerprint for authentication, and are a more secure and convenient alternative to traditional passwords that are also more resilient to phishing attacks.

Although the company has announced that passkey support is coming in the new 2023.10 release, the update appears to be in the process of rolling out — I’m still seeing the previous 2023.9.2 version listed on the Chrome Web Store as of this writing. But I’ve verified that it’s working on Safari with the latest version of Bitwarden’s Mac app and extension. The rollout of the feature follows support from Apple and Google’s built-in password managers, as well as competing third-party password managers like 1Password.

With its latest release, Bitwarden supports storing and logging in with passkeys using its browser extensions, and released a couple of instructional videos showing how the process works. The browser should prompt you to save a passkey as a new login method when it detects that a compatible website is trying to create a passkey, and then it’ll ask if you want to login with this passkey when you return to the same website later. You can verify a passkey login using a PIN, pattern, password, or biometrics, depending on the device you’re using, according to Bitwarden.

Although passkeys aren’t as widely supported as traditional passwords, an increasing number of websites are adding them as a login option. This community-run database should give you some idea of which websites support logging in via passkeys, and in recent months we’ve seen big players like Amazon, Google, and Nintendo making moves to support and promote their use.

Although Bitwarden now supports storing and logging in using passkeys from its browser extensions, it’s not currently possible to store passkeys in the company’s mobile app. According to Bitwarden’s FAQ, this feature is “planned for a future release.”