Go Passwordless With Windows Hello : Stop Being a Target (2026 Guide)

Every password you type is a password that can be phished, leaked in a breach, guessed, or reused somewhere it shouldn’t be. It’s not a hypothetical risk — it’s the single most common way accounts actually get broken into. Windows Hello and passkeys close that door entirely: nothing typed means nothing to steal, and signing in becomes faster than typing a password ever was. Setup takes about five minutes.

Quick answer: Go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options, set up a PIN (Windows Hello) first, then add fingerprint or facial recognition if your hardware supports it. Once Windows Hello is active, you can create passkeys for your Microsoft account and supported websites under Settings > Accounts > Passkeys — from that point on, your face, fingerprint, or PIN replaces the password entirely for those sign-ins. You’ll need Windows 11 version 23H2 or later, with 24H2 or newer required for passkeys to sync across your devices.

Why This Is Worth Doing Today, Not Someday

It’s easy to treat “set up passwordless sign-in” as a nice-to-have you’ll get to eventually. Here’s what that delay is actually costing you:

• You’re carrying risk you don’t need to carry. Passwords can be phished with a fake login page that looks identical to the real one. A passkey physically cannot be phished this way, because there’s no password to trick you into typing
• You’re a target in every breach that hasn’t happened yet. Reused passwords are the reason a leak at one company can compromise your accounts everywhere else. A passkey tied to your device sidesteps that entire category of risk
• You’re wasting time, every single day. A fingerprint or glance at your camera is faster than typing even a short password, and there’s no “forgot password” flow to lose ten minutes to
• You’re one step behind where the internet is heading. Google, Apple, Microsoft, and a growing list of major services are actively pushing passkeys as the default, not the exception — getting comfortable with them now means less friction later

None of this requires new hardware most people don’t already have. If your PC has a fingerprint reader, an infrared camera, or nothing but a keyboard, you’re covered — Windows Hello works with a PIN alone if that’s all you’ve got.

What You’ll Need

Step 1: Set Up Windows Hello (Required Foundation)

Windows Hello is what everything else in this guide is built on — passkeys can’t exist without it.

Add a PIN

1. Press Windows key + I to open Settings
2. Select Accounts, then Sign-in options
3. Under Ways to sign in, select PIN (Windows Hello)
4. Select Set up, confirm your current account password if prompted
5. Create your PIN

A Windows Hello PIN is tied specifically to this device and stored securely in your PC’s hardware — it’s not the same as a regular password, and it’s not sent anywhere over the internet during sign-in.

Add Fingerprint Recognition (If Your PC Supports It)

1. Still in Sign-in options, find Fingerprint recognition (Windows Hello)
2. Select Set up, then Get started
3. Verify with your PIN when prompted
4. Follow the on-screen enrollment, placing your finger on the sensor repeatedly as instructed

Add Facial Recognition (If Your PC Has a Compatible Camera)

1. In Sign-in options, find Facial recognition (Windows Hello)
2. Select Set up and follow the enrollment wizard
3. Keep your face centered in the frame until enrollment completes

Step 2: Turn On Passwordless Sign-In for Your Microsoft Account

This is the step that actually removes the password as an option, not just adds an alternative alongside it.

1. Open a browser and sign in at account.microsoft.com
2. Go to Security > Advanced security options
3. Under Ways to prove who you are, select Add a new way to sign in or verify
4. Choose Use a Windows PC, or Use your face, fingerprint, PIN, or security key
5. Complete the Windows Hello prompt to register this device
6. Scroll to the Passwordless account toggle and turn it on

Once enabled, your Microsoft account no longer accepts a typed password as a sign-in method at all — only Windows Hello, a registered passkey, or the Authenticator app.

Step 3: Set Up Passkeys for Websites and Apps

With Windows Hello active, you can start replacing passwords on individual sites and services too, not just your Microsoft account.

1. Sign in to a website or app that supports passkeys using your current method, one last time
2. Go into that account’s security settings and look for Add a passkey or Set up passkey
3. When prompted, complete the Windows Hello verification to register the passkey
4. Repeat for any other supported service — banking apps, email providers, and major shopping sites increasingly all offer this option

To review everything you’ve set up, go to Settings > Accounts > Passkeys, where every saved passkey is listed and can be renamed or removed individually.

Using a Third-Party Passkey Manager Instead of Windows’ Built-In Storage

If you already use a password manager like 1Password or Bitwarden, you can route your passkeys through it instead of storing them directly on the device.

1. Go to Settings > Accounts > Passkeys > Advanced options
2. Enable passkey manager integration
3. Choose your preferred manager from the list, if it’s already installed
4. Complete Windows Hello verification to confirm the change

This is worth doing specifically if you want your passkeys accessible across multiple operating systems, not just Windows devices tied to the same Microsoft account.

Common Problems and How to Fix Them

The Passkey Option Is Missing From Settings

This almost always comes down to one of a few specific causes:

1. Windows Hello isn’t set up yet. Add a PIN first under Sign-in options — passkeys cannot exist without it
2. Windows is out of date. The built-in passkey manager requires version 23H2 or later; cross-device sync requires 24H2 or newer. Check your version under Settings > System > About
3. TPM or Secure Boot is disabled. Both need to be enabled in your PC’s firmware settings for passkeys to work correctly

“Set Up Windows Hello First” Keeps Appearing When Creating a Passkey

This is expected behavior, not an error — Windows requires at least a PIN configured before it will let you register any passkey, since Hello is the underlying verification method a passkey relies on.

Fingerprint or Face Recognition Stops Working After a While

1. Go to Sign-in options, remove the existing fingerprint or facial enrollment, and set it up again from scratch
2. Confirm the sensor or camera is clean and unobstructed
3. Check for a pending Windows update, since driver-level fixes for biometric hardware are occasionally bundled into routine updates

You’re Locked Out and Windows Hello Isn’t Working

Your PIN and biometric methods always have your account password as a fallback unless you’ve specifically enabled the Passwordless account toggle. If you have turned that on and get locked out, Microsoft’s account recovery process at account.microsoft.com is the way back in — this is exactly why setting up more than one Windows Hello method (not just one biometric) is worth doing from the start.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need special hardware to use Windows Hello? No. A PIN alone is enough to set up Windows Hello and start using passkeys. Fingerprint and facial recognition are additional options if your PC has the compatible hardware, but they’re not required.

What’s the difference between Windows Hello and a passkey? Windows Hello is the verification method — your PIN, fingerprint, or face — used on your device. A passkey is the actual passwordless credential registered with a specific website or account, which relies on Windows Hello to confirm it’s really you before it’s used.

Is a Windows Hello PIN less secure than a password? No, it’s generally more secure in practice. A PIN is tied to this specific device and stored in secure hardware, meaning it can’t be reused elsewhere even if it were somehow exposed, unlike a password that might be reused across multiple accounts.

Can I still use my password if I set up Windows Hello? Yes, unless you specifically turn on the Passwordless account toggle for your Microsoft account. Windows Hello and passkeys can exist alongside your regular password as an additional, faster option until you’re ready to remove the password entirely.

Why can’t I find the Passkeys option in Windows 11 Settings? This usually means Windows Hello hasn’t been set up yet, or your Windows version is older than 23H2. Adding a PIN under Sign-in options and confirming your Windows version under Settings > System > About resolves most cases.

Do passkeys work across all my devices, or just one PC? Cross-device passkey syncing requires Windows 11 version 24H2 or later. On earlier versions, passkeys are tied to the specific device they were created on, unless you route them through a third-party password manager that supports its own cross-platform syncing.

What happens if I lose access to my PC after going fully passwordless? Microsoft’s account recovery process at account.microsoft.com lets you regain access, which is why setting up more than one Windows Hello method from the start is worth the extra few minutes — it gives you a backup path if one method (like a damaged fingerprint reader) stops working.

Going passwordless is one part of a genuinely secure Windows setup — the rest is worth locking down too. TPM, which passkeys depend on, lives in your system firmware, so if you haven’t checked it recently, our guide on how to update your BIOS safely is a good next stop. Pairing passwordless sign-in with a secure VPN connection in Windows covers your network traffic the same way passkeys cover your accounts. And if you access your PC remotely, our guide on connecting to your PC remotely on Windows is worth revisiting now that your sign-in method has changed.

Keeping the rest of your system current matters too: outdated Windows Security signatures leave a gap no passkey can close on its own, and if a stalled update has been sitting in your queue, our guide on fixing Windows Update issues easily will get you unblocked before your next feature update. If you’re extending passwordless sign-in across your Apple devices as well, our guide on factory resetting an iPhone covers a clean starting point for setting up Face ID and passkeys there too.