Passkey support on Android and Chrome

Passkeys can be synchronized across devices in the same ecosystem. For example, passkeys created on Android are stored in the Google Password Manager.

Passkeys are an emerging technology and supported environments are still evolving. As of August 2023, Chrome on macOS and Windows stores passkeys on the local device only.

Google Password Manager

Google Password Manager stores, serves and synchronizes passkeys on Android and Chrome. Passkeys from Google Password Manager are available to all Android apps, including Chrome and other browsers. When the user creates a passkey on an Android device it's stored and synchronized with their other Android devices, and their passkey secrets are encrypted end-to-end. This makes passkeys available to the user across all Android devices that use Google Password Manager and are signed in with the same Google Account.

Google Password Manager on Chrome helps create and sign in with passkeys. Depending on the desktop operating system (e.g. ChromeOS, iOS, macOS, Windows) users may be presented with a QR code to securely use a passkey stored on their mobile device, or a notification may be displayed prompting the user to unlock their phone to use the relevant passkey.

Passkey support for Android apps

Android apps support passkeys through the Credential Manager. Credential Manager supports passkeys, passwords and identity federation. Passkeys are supported on devices that run Android 9 (API level 28) or higher. Passwords and Sign in with Google are supported starting with Android 4.4.

Chrome's passkey support on different operating systems

Chrome on all desktop platforms supports using passkeys from mobile devices. To use a passkey from your Android or iOS device, select the appropriate option when asked.

Authenticator picker
Figure 1: Authenticator picker

To learn more about how to use a phone to sign in, read Sign-in with a phone.

The following sections outline Chrome behavior on different operating systems.

Android

Chrome on Android OS 9 or later supports passkeys. Passkeys generated in Chrome on Android are stored in the Google Password Manager. These passkeys are available on all other Android devices as long as Google Password Manager is available and the same user's Google Account is signed in.

Windows

Chrome on Windows stores passkeys in Windows Hello, which doesn't synchronize them to other devices as of October 2023.

When a user tries to sign in to a website for the first time on Chrome on Windows, they should scan a QR code with another device that already has a passkey. After that, they can create a passkey on the local Windows device for future use there.

macOS

Chrome on macOS 13.5 and later can use iCloud Keychain to store passkeys. Passkeys in iCloud Keychain are synchronized across the user's Apple devices and can be used by other browsers and apps.

Chrome on macOS can also store passkeys in a local profile, which means they aren't synchronized to other devices. Storing passkeys in a local profile is available in earlier versions of macOS.

iOS / iPadOS

Chrome on iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 uses iCloud Keychain to store passkeys. Passkeys in iCloud Keychain are synchronized across the user's Apple devices and can be used by other browsers and apps.

Linux

Chrome on Linux doesn't support passkeys with a built-in platform authenticator. Linux users can use passkeys from another device such as an Android phone or an iPhone by scanning a QR code.

Chrome's passkey support summary

Operating systems Android macOS iOS/iPadOS Windows Linux
Local user verification
Passkey sync 1 1 3
Autofill 2
Can sign in with a phone

: Supported, : Planned, : No plans

1: Syncs with iCloud Keychain 2: Requires Windows 11 22H2 3: Depends on Windows Hello