After launching passkey support earlier this year, Google now offers passkeys as the default sign-in option for all personal accounts.

This means that once set up, you will no longer need to enter your Google password or use 2-step verification (2SV) to sign in to your account.

According to a new blog post from Google, users who have not yet set up a passkey will now be prompted to create and use a passkey when they try to sign in to their account. At the same time, once a passkey is set, a new option called "Skip password when possible" will appear in the Google account. If you turn this on, you will be prompted to use the new passkey instead of entering your password.

However, if you prefer to refuse to enter a passkey altogether and instead use your password to log into your Google account, you can leave this new option turned off.

While the best password managers can be used to securely generate, store, and auto-type passwords, passkeys offer many advantages over traditional passwords. [for example, they are stored locally on your device, such as a smartphone or computer, so you don't have to remember them. Passkeys are stored locally on your device and cannot be stolen in a data breach or phishing attack. This is because the private key is stored on your device and the public key is stored on the company's server, and you need both to use the passkey to log into your account.

Another interesting aspect of passkeys is that they can be accessed using biometric sensors such as a fingerprint reader or facial recognition on your phone instead of your Google password. This would add an extra layer of security, but it would also mean that if you use Google Password Manager, you would not have to constantly enter your password when signing in to other sites using Passkey. Otherwise, 1Password, Dashlane, LastPass, Bitwarden, and many other password managers are starting to support passkeys.

Now that passkey is the default sign-in option for all personal Google accounts, you may be wondering how to create your own passkey. Fortunately, this is really easy.

To get started, go to this website and click on the "Get passkeys" button. You will then be taken through the process of creating your first passkey and using it to log in; we also have a dedicated guide on how to use passkeys with your Google account.

However, there are a few things to note first. At this time, passkeys can only be created on the best laptops or desktops with Windows 10, macOS Ventura (version 13), ChromeOS 109 or higher, or smartphones with iOS 16 or Android 9 or higher. fido2 protocol is supported, physical security keys can also be used.

If you are using a computer, you will also need a compatible browser such as Chrome (version 109 or higher), Edge (version 109 or higher), or Safari (version 16 or higher). However, for cell phones, both the device's screen lock and Bluetooth must be enabled in order to sign in to another computer using the passkey stored on the device.

Passkeys are not yet mainstream, but they are one step closer to wiping out passwords, as Google has added them as the default sign-in option for all personal accounts.