Microsoft Edge just fixed a big passkey problem

Microsoft Edge has finally released saving and syncing access keys on Windows desktop devices using Microsoft Password Manager. This solved a major obstacle to moving away from traditional passwords, as things used to be complicated.

Edge now lets you save and sync passkeys through Microsoft Password Manager. When you create a password on a website that supports them, it is saved directly to Microsoft Password Manager. Since this manager is linked to your Microsoft account, your passwords now follow you across all your supported Windows desktop devices.

You should know that this initial deployment has some limitations. Currently, the sync feature is exclusive to Windows desktop devices running version 10 and above, and you must use a Microsoft or MSA account. The feature is not yet available for mobile devices or for work and school accounts using Microsoft Entra ID, but Microsoft has mentioned that expansion to more platforms is planned in the future.

In addition to this, Microsoft plans to release a Microsoft Password Manager plugin. This allows you to use your synced access keys outside of the Edge browser. This means you can potentially use access keys in other browsers or separate applications running on Windows.

For the longest time, the biggest problem with Microsoft’s passing of passwords was how disjointed they were. Microsoft had spent time trying to convince people to move their saved user IDs and passwords out of the Microsoft Authenticator mobile app and into the Edge browser. Edge was clearly intended to be the central hub for credential management, similar to how Google handles things with Chrome. However, Edge could only sync passwords across multiple devices. The access keys were blocked.

The previous setup meant that access keys were often device-bound, which is a fancy way of saying they were tied directly to the specific Windows machine you created them on. If you created a password for PayPal or eBay on your Windows desktop, those credentials were locked on that computer through Windows Hello and the Trusted Platform Module. This meant you couldn’t sync that password with your laptop, tablet, or any other copy of Edge.

I would say this was a huge problem because it completely defeated the purpose of convenience that passwords are supposed to provide. You had to manage multiple non-syncable credentials for the same website, which is exactly what people hate about passwords.

For those who haven’t tried, the setup process is simple. When you create your very first password using Microsoft Password Manager, you will be asked to set up a Microsoft Password Manager PIN. This PIN is crucial because it acts as an extra layer of protection for all your saved passwords. When you sign in to a brand new device and try to access your synced passkeys, you will need to verify yourself by entering this PIN.

Created passwords are stored and encrypted in the cloud. If you forget your PIN, you can reset it from a device that already has password access. You have a maximum of ten attempts to enter the correct PIN on a new device before access is locked.

If you have saved passwords before, don’t worry about them disappearing. Your passwords remain intact and you can continue to use them as usual.

Source: Windows Blog