How to set up a Microsoft passkey before August deadline

If you use Microsoft, you will soon be required to ditch your passwords and create a passkey. This is part of a strategy shift at Microsoft to get rid of passwords altogether — and the deadline is quickly approaching.

Microsoft has laid out its plans on its website. As of June — aka right now — users are no longer able to add passwords to Microsoft Authenticator. In July, you will no longer be able to use autofill, which is the primary utility of a password manager. Come Aug. 1, you'll no longer be able to access your stored passwords at all. Instead, you'll need to set up a passkey.

So...what is a passkey? It's effectively a safer, more secure way of logging in that effectively rolls a password and two-factor authentication into one step. You effectively create a credential that is not stored on a server — this could include biometric data like facial recognition/thumbprint or a PIN — unlike a password. Microsoft believes passkeys will be much more difficult for hackers to access and more resistant to phishing.

"It's the difference between using a codeword to open a door and using a physical key that only you have," Mashable Tech Editor Timothy Werth explained. "Passkeys are only stored on your devices, not a Microsoft server, and they also eliminate the kind of user errors that result in weak passwords. Plus, password managers are becoming a really popular target for hackers, so Microsoft is definitely onto something."

As we noted in our guide to the top cybersecurity breaches of 2025, popular password managers are increasingly under threat.

If you want to keep using passwords stored with Microsoft, you'll have to use Microsoft Edge and enable password autofill or export your passwords. However, Microsoft wants to get rid of passwords for all its various users and products, including Copilot and Xbox. As part of this, new Microsoft accounts are password-less by default.

Microsoft has said it will automatically prompt users to set up a passkey in Authenticator. So, if you use Microsoft Authenticator to store passwords, you should have been — or will soon be — urged to set up a Microsoft passkey. Microsoft will also automatically detect the best method for your passkey.

You can also add new passkeys in the Authenticator app by clicking "set up a passkey." After that, you simply log in and then set up the passkey.

And if you want to set up a passkey for your Microsoft account, sign in and look for the "Advanced Security Options" tab. From there, you'll be able to select between "Face, Fingerprint, PIN, or Security Key." From there, simply follow the simple instructions.