What is a Passkey? It’s a Smart Solution to Password Problems.

You may not know it, but one day you would eventually ask Google, “ What is a passkey?” To save you time—and to make sure you got a helpful answer—we decided to bring the answer to that question to you. We’ll start with this: NOTE: Passkeys are coming, but they are still new. As of April 1, 2025, passkeys are slowly being rolled out in different industries. Google offers a passkey option to sign in, and so does ___. But many companies and websites are just now adopting the technology or planning to. Check out our recent article and podcast Christiaan Brand, Next-Gen Account Security . The main idea is this: A passkey can replace your password if you want it to. A passkey will offer a way to open your accounts without typing in your password. That is the essence of it. If you’ve used a thumbprint or your face on a computer or phone to open your account, you already have a taste of the technology. One day, credit card accounts, banks, and online shopping websites may all offer the option of setting up and using a passkey in place of your password. Your password will still work, and you can use it whenever you want, even if you have set up a passkey. You can use a passkey on whatever device you set it up on: A desktop PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Just know that you’ll need to set up passkeys for each device you want it on. You might wonder why this change to passkeys is happening and what the reason behind it is. Quite simply, it’s to help us better protect our accounts, money, and identity. There have always been problems with passwords, and the situation has never improved. Here’s a short list of why passwords are an issue and why passkeys make sense. On our website, we’ve written many articles about password problems, including this one about the importance of changing passwords . The word passkey has been around for decades, and the classic definition doesn’t describe anything that sounds like security: But this is the 21 st Century, and this isn’t your grandfather’s passkey. Here’s a modern description: Unfortunately, passkeys are not being introduced methodically or talked about enough to the potential users who need to learn how important they are. Many consumers have not yet heard about passkeys, and that will need to change for them to gain wide acceptance. Many companies plan to offer passkeys, but they can’t tell us when that will happen. So, how will you know when a passkey option is available? Here are some ideas: To learn more about account safety and protecting your money and identity, visit the Learning Center at WhatIsMyIPAddress.com. You’ll find many informative, easy-to-read articles to help you protect what’s important to you.