Windows 11 should be able to synchronize passkeys between devices in the future

Microsoft is planning to revise the passkey management functions in Windows 11. The user interface for saving and managing private keys, Windows Hello, is getting a redesign. A new interface in Windows 11 will enable the operating system to interact directly with third-party password managers for passkey management. In addition, passkeys created with Windows Hello will be able to be synchronized between Windows computers via the Microsoft account.

In future, passkeys created with Windows Hello will no longer only be saved locally on the respective computer, but in the Microsoft account of the respective user and can be synchronized between any second or third computers.

A new API will enable Windows users to seamlessly use passkeys saved in third-party apps such as 1Password or Bitwarden on their smartphone or tablet in Windows 11. The user guidance and user interface in Windows Hello have also been revised for this purpose. According to the blog post, when creating a passkey on the computer with Windows Hello, it will be possible in future to choose whether it should be saved in a third-party password manager or in the Microsoft account.

Microsoft is apparently catching up with Apple and Google

Microsoft is thus deviating from its previous policy. Passkeys created with Windows Hello were previously only saved locally on the device; with this new feature, they can now be saved either in the Microsoft account or in the cloud of a password manager.

Anyone who saves their passkeys in their Microsoft account can keep them synchronized between any second or third computers and should be able to restore them from the cloud if the device is lost. The device prompts you to save a recovery code when you first set it up with your Microsoft account.

The passkeys are end-to-end encrypted and access to them is protected by the computer's hardware security module, the Trusted Platform Module (TPM). With the new synchronization option and the third-party API, Microsoft is catching up with Apple and Google, whose operating system's own key management systems have been synchronizing the secured passkeys between devices via their respective clouds since 2022. An interface for the seamless use of third-party password managers has been implemented in the operating systems of both manufacturers for some time.

The new features are set to appear in the Windows Insider Preview in the coming months.

(kst)