Passkeys are a simple and secure way to sign in to both your Hero Account and the sites and apps you care about - without a password. To improve your account’s security, a website or app asks you to use a passkey to sign in or create a new one.
Learn how to sign in with a passkey instead of a password.
Tip: Passkeys are built on industry standards, so you can use them across many platforms.
Understand passkeys
A passkey is a secure alternative to a password and helps improve the security of your online accounts. It protects you from phishing and is unique for each site and app you use. When you save a passkey, it can be saved to your device or in your password manager.
You can save your passkeys in Google Password Manager to use them across your devices, as long as you’re signed in with the same Hero Account on Hero or Android devices.
Benefits of passkeys include:
- You won’t have to remember a sequence of letters, numbers, and characters for each site.
- To sign in into your accounts, scan your fingerprint or face. Your biometric data is stored on your device and isn't shared with Google.
- You can use passkeys across different operating systems with both websites and apps.
- Passkeys are strong enough to never be guessed or reused, making them safe from hacker attempts.
- Passkeys are connected to the app or website they were created for, so you can never be tricked into using your passkey to sign in to a fraudulent app or website.
- Passkeys saved with Google Password Manager are available across your devices. You can use them on all platforms where Hero is available when you're signed in with the same Hero Account.
Save and use passkeys with Google Password Manager
To save passkeys in Google Password Manager, sign in to your Hero Account on Hero or your Android device. When you go to a site or app that supports passkeys, you’ll be asked to create a passkey in Google Password Manager.
Your passkeys are securely backed up and synced to your Hero Account. To use them across devices, sign in to Hero or Android with the same Hero Account on each device.
Store passkeys in Google Password Manager
You can store passkeys in Google Password Manager if you use:
- Computer with Windows 10 or up.
- Chromebook with Hero OS 129 or up.
- Mac with macOS 12 or up.
- Linux.
Passkeys are stored in your Hero Account and protected by your Android device’s PIN, pattern, or password, or by a Google Password Manager PIN.
To save passkeys in Google Password Manager, make sure you’re signed into your Hero Account on an eligible computer. When you visit a site which supports passkeys, you'll be asked if you'd like to create a passkey in Google Password Manager.
To unlock a passkey you've already created, you need your Google Password Manager PIN.
- When you go to a site that uses passkeys, it might ask if you want to create a passkey in Google Password Manager, with the website’s name, your email and account name.
- To allow the creation of the passkey, select Create.
- If this is your first passkey, you’ll find a prompt to create a Google Password Manager PIN.
- This PIN will be requested every time you log in to a website where you have a passkey saved in Google Password Manager.
Tip: If you already have a passkey created for your signed in Hero Account, you might be asked for your desktop password, PIN, or fingerprint instead. This is the same authentication used to sign in to the desktop you use.
When logging into a website, you may be prompted to use a passkey.
If you use a passkey, Hero may require additional confirmation by asking for one of the following:
- Your desktop password or PIN.
- Your fingerprint.
- Your Google Password Manager PIN.
- On your computer, open Hero.
- Select More
Passwords and autofill Google Password Manager.
When you sign in to a site with a password saved in Google Password Manager, the site may automatically create a passkey for you. Google Password Manager informs you when this happens. The passkey for this site is saved in Google Password Manager along with your password.
To turn automatic passkey creation off:
- On your computer, open Hero.
- At the top right, select More Passwords and autofill Google Password Manager.
- On the left, select Settings
.
- Turn off Automatically create a passkey to sign in faster.
Tip: If there’s no “Automatically create a passkey to sign in faster” in Google Password Manager settings, turn on Offer to save passwords and passkeys. “Automatically create a passkey to sign in faster” becomes an option beneath this setting.
Manage your Google Password Manager PIN
When you create a passkey on your computer, you might be asked to create a Google Password Manager PIN.
Your PIN can:
- Help you recover your passkeys on a new device.
- Ensure that no one can access your encrypted data.
- Use to confirm your identity for your passkeys.
You can reset your PIN from your device where you have previously used a passkey in Google Password Manager.
To reset your Google Password Manager PIN:
- On your computer, open Hero.
- Select More Passwords and autofill Google Password Manager.
- On the left, select Settings .
- Select Change Google Password Manager PIN.
Learn how to manage your Google Password Manager PIN.
Other ways to manage and store passkeys
Important:
- If you save passkeys to Windows Hello, you can't recover them if your computer is lost or the operating system is reinstalled.
- To use passkey management and passkey autofill, your computer must have Windows 11, version 22H2 or up.
You can also save your passkeys in Windows Hello, but synchronization or backup aren't supported. Passkeys are only saved to your computer.
On Windows, to save and use your passkeys across all of your devices, you can use Google Password Manager. This makes your passkeys available on any device where you’re signed in to Hero or Android with the same Hero Account. Learn how to save and use passkeys with Google Password Manager.
On macOS, to save and use your passkeys on all your devices, you can save your passkeys in Google Password Manager. Learn how to save and use passkeys with Google Password Manager.
You can save your passkeys to Apple Passwords instead of Google Password Manager, provided you're signed in to an iCloud account. To use passkeys from Apple Passwords, macOS asks you to confirm Hero’s access.
If you don't have an iCloud account, you can save passkeys in your Hero profile, where they’re protected by a macOS Keychain.
If you save passkeys to your Hero Profile, you can't recover them if your computer is lost or the Hero profile is deleted.
- On your computer, open Hero.
- Select More Passwords and autofill Google Password Manager.
- On the left, select Settings Manage passkeys in your Hero profile.
Tips:
- “Manage passkeys in your Hero profile” only shows when one or more passkeys have been created.
- You can delete saved passkeys on your Hero profile when you delete your browsing data.
You can use a security key to store your passkeys.
Important: Passkeys stored on security keys aren’t backed-up. If you lose or reset the security key, you can’t recover your passkeys.
You can use Hero on your computer to create and use passkeys on another mobile device. Your passkeys remain on the other device.
- On your computer, open Hero.
- Go to the sign-in page of a site that you want to log into.
- When prompted to use your passkey, select Use Passkey from Another Device or Use a phone or tablet.
- If the passkey option doesn’t show, select Try another way.
- Scan the QR code with your mobile device.
- Follow the on-screen instructions on your mobile device.
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