'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
How to create a passkey for your Google account (and why you should)
Passwordless authentication is far more secure than using a traditional username and password. Essentially, passwordless authentication uses an encrypted key on a device -- your phone, for example -- to log you into an account. By using this method, it is far less likely that your accounts will be hacked by malicious users. On top of that, you won't have to bother typing lengthy passwords to log into your accounts. Instead, you simply OK the login attempt on your phone, and -- voilà! -- you're in.
Also: What are passkeys? Experience the life-changing magic of going passwordless
Passwordless authentication avoids the usual hacking methods of traditional authentication, such as brute force, credential stuffing, phishing, keylogging, and man-in-the-middle attacks.
Fortunately, Google has made the process of creating a passkey (which helps to enable a fully passwordless experience for your account) simple. Let me show you how it's done and why you should do it.
Keep in mind that this setup only works to secure your Google account. This is the new world order for how you verify your login. It is not a way to create passkeys for other, third-party accounts.
How to create a new passkey for Google
What you'll need: To make this work, you'll only need a valid Google account and a web browser (I would recommend using Chrome). Do note that the device you use must be either a mobile device or a laptop/desktop with biometrics (such as a fingerprint scanner).
1. Log into your Google account
The first thing to do is to open your web browser and log into your Google account. If you've already done that, you're good to go; otherwise, you can open Gmail, Drive, Google Calendar (or any of the Google services) and log in.
2. Open the Passkeys manager
Next, head over to myaccount.google.com/signinoptions/passkeys. When the page loads, you'll be prompted for your account password once again.
3. Create a new Passkey
On the resulting page, click Create a Passkey. You'll, once again, be prompted for your Google account password.
If you've already created passkeys on your mobile devices, they'll be listed here.
4. Continue with the Passkey creation
In the resulting pop-up, click Continue.
You are about to create a passkey for your Google account.
You will be prompted to allow Chrome to access and use your passkeys. When prompted, click Allow. If you're using MacOS, you'll need to make sure to turn on iCloud Keychain (if it's not already enabled). Once you've done that, you'll be prompted for your fingerprint and then the passkey is done and ready to use.
Also: 5 quick tips to strengthen your Android phone security today
Passkeys are the way of the future for Google account verification. I would highly recommend you set yours up as soon as possible. It's simple to do and highly secure.