Passkey support comes to Microsoft's accounts for the first time

In a world where too many people continue to use a single username and password combination across multiple devices, services, and accounts, it's good to see that the passkey revolution continues to gather pace. We've already seen various companies and services offer passkeys as a new way of biometric-secured authentication with Apple, WhatsApp, and PlayStation among others all on side. But now one of the really big names has also thrown its hat into the ring.

In a post on its security blog, Microsoft has confirmed that it is now rolling out passkey support for Microsoft accounts, making it easier, quicker, and more secure to sign into those accounts. Creating a passkey is easy with users given the option to switch from their previous username and password via the sign-in process.

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When it comes to signing into a Microsoft account using a passkey, the new sign-in option will be offered with support for signing in using a fingerprint, a face recognition solution like Face ID, a PIN, or a security key. Microsoft says that, starting today, users can sign into Microsoft apps and websites including Microsoft 365 and Copilot using both desktop and mobile web browsers.

However, those who use the mobile versions of Microsoft's apps will have to wait a little while before they can use passkeys when signing in - Microsoft says that support will follow in the coming weeks, so hopefully, it won't be too long.

Passkeys are a much better way to authenticate for apps and services than using a username and password and it's a positive sign that companies like Microsoft are getting involved.