Microsoft accounts now let you ditch your password, sign in with a security key

Microsoft today announced that it has turned on support for using a FIDO2 security key for signing in to Microsoft accounts. Now, you'll be able to ditch your username and password, instead authenticating with a physical security key to log in to your Microsoft account in Microsoft Edge.

From Microsoft:

As a member of the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), we've been working with others to develop open standards for the next generation of authentication. I'm happy to share that Microsoft is the first Fortune 500 company to support password-less authentication using the the WebAuthn and FIDO2 specifications, and Microsoft Edge supports the widest array of authenticators compared to other major browsers.

You can take advantage of the new feature for your Microsoft account so long as you have a FIDO2 security key from Yubico or Feitian and you're running the Windows 10 October 2018 Update. To get started, you'll want to head to the Microsoft account page and select Security > More security options. Under the "Windows Hello and security keys" section, you can follow Microsoft's instructions for adding a security key to your account.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl