Passkeys can be synchronized across devices in the same ecosystem. For example, passkeys created on iOS or in Safari on macOS are stored in iCloud Keychain. Passkeys created in Chrome on Android are stored in the Google Password Manager.
Passkeys are an emerging technology and supported environments are still evolving. As of January 2023, Chrome on macOS and Windows stores passkeys on the local device only.
Google Password Manager
Google Password Manager stores, serves and syncs passkeys on Android. Passkeys from Google Password Manager are available to all Android apps, including Chrome and other browsers. Passkeys are stored when the user creates a passkey on an Android device, and synced; their passkeys are synced with user's 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, as long as they are signed in with the same Google account.
Passkey support for Android apps
Android apps on Android OS 9 or later support passkeys through the Credential Manager alpha.
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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.
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 sync them to other devices as of January 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 stores passkeys in a local profile and doesn't sync them to other devices as ofJanuary 2023. Passkeys from iCloud Keychain aren't available in Chrome on macOS.
When a user tries to sign in to a website for the first time on Chrome on macOS, they should scan a QR code with another device that already has a passkey. After that, they can register a passkey on the local macOS device for future use there.
iOS / iPadOS
Chrome on iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 uses iCloud Keychain to store passkeys. Passkeys in iCloud Keychain are synced across the user's Apple devices and can be used by other browsers and apps.
As of January 2023, Chrome on iOS 16 and iPadOS doesn't yet support passkey autofill.
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 | |
| | |
| Autofill | 2|
| | |||
| Can sign in with a phone |
: Supported, : Planned, : No plans
1: Syncs with iCloud Sync 2: Requires Windows 11 22H2