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Passkeys are the new security authentication measure to beat. They’re convenient, easy to use, incredibly secure and don’t require you to remember passphrases, codes, or PINs. If you haven’t already, you should ditch your passwords and start using keys, as they’re more secure. But often they’re tied to one device, like your smartphone. Other types exist, such as synced keys stored in the cloud, but device-bound keys are the most common. Using them across platforms is challenging. It’s also difficult to move them between password managers and security tools. However, Google just made it way easier for Android users to do that, allowing you to both share passkeys and transfer them. The feature is essentially to help you swap password managers, such as if you wanted to move everything from 1Password to Bitwarden.
In the past, swapping management tools meant bringing only your passwords with you, and even then you had to download them as an unencrypted text file, which isn’t very secure. Passkeys, however, couldn’t be transferred. That would require you to create new passkeys across websites, apps, and devices. Thanks to Google’s recent changes, none of that is necessary anymore. You can move passwords and passkeys between providers using a secure, built-in process in Android.
Google says all you have to do is open the app you want to transfer from, choose the import or copy passwords option — from another app — and Android will then take over. The system automatically detects the managers or providers you have installed and shows you which has a secure database to import. Select the necessary options, and Android will walk you through the transfer. According to Google, you can already do this with popular tools like 1Password, Bitwarden, Google Password Manager and Dashlane.
What’s the big deal with a passkey transfer feature?
To use passkeys everywhere and take them with you, rather than locking them to a single device, you need a password manager app or tool. For example, Google Chrome uses Google Password Manager by default to manage passkeys unless you choose another tool or use an extension. That’s where your passkeys and passwords may be stored when using a PC. But let’s say you want to move to mobile and have your passkeys go with you. You can swap over passkeys to something you use there, like Bitwarden Password Manager, and when your vault is unlocked and accessible, you’re all set – you can use them anywhere. You could also tie your passkeys to a physical authentication device like a YubiKey.
The transfer comes into play when you have passkeys stored in one app and want to move them to something you like better, or something you use on another device. Moving from Google’s Password Manager to Bitwarden is a great example, or even vice versa.
Sure, if you’re only staying on a single platform, there’s simply no need for a password manager in that case. But I’m willing to bet most people want to access the same apps, websites, and accounts across all their devices. Managing your passkeys and passwords from a single provider is key. To date, millions of people have already replaced passwords with passkeys, and they all need to be stored somewhere securely.
