Passkey login comes to Windows 11 via Bitwarden vault
Passwords at the Windows login screen may soon be a thing of the past, as Bitwarden becomes the first third-party manager to bring passkey authentication directly to the Windows 11 desktop.
Bitwarden has announced support for logging into Windows 11 devices using passkeys stored in its encrypted vault, enabling phishing-resistant authentication directly at the operating system login screen.
The feature is available across all Bitwarden plans, including the free tier, and is believed to be a first for a third-party password manager.
During the login process, Windows 11 displays a QR code that users scan with their mobile device running the Bitwarden app, which then confirms access to the stored passkey and completes authentication.
Unlike device-bound passkey implementations, passkeys are synchronised across devices via Bitwarden’s end-to-end encrypted vault, meaning users can still regain access even if their phone is lost.
The feature builds on Microsoft’s introduction of native support for external passkey managers in Windows 11 in November 2025. It requires the device to be joined to Microsoft Entra ID with FIDO2 security key sign-in enabled.
Microsoft says the passkey-based login will roll out throughout March, depending on an organisation’s Entra ID configuration.
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