Passkeys across your devices: saving, signing in elsewhere and recovering after a lost phone
For staff who already use a password manager and know what a passkey is, and for service desk staff who help them. Complete 'Passkeys, one-time codes and a tidy vault' first; it explains passkeys, synced and device-bound passkeys and recovery codes. This course is the practical next step across the devices people really own: where a passkey is saved and which devices can then use it, how to sign in on a computer that doesn't hold your passkey by scanning a QR code with your phone, why you shouldn't create passkeys on shared or borrowed devices, what to do when a phone is lost or replaced, and the limits the UK's NCSC describes, including attacks on account recovery. Examples use Apple, Google and Microsoft help pages as they were when this course was written. Your organization's policy decides which credential manager holds work passkeys.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 90 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Choose where a passkey is saved (company password manager, platform credential manager or security key) and predict which devices can use it
- Sign in on a computer that doesn't hold your passkey using the QR code and nearby-phone flow, and explain the proximity check
- Identify when not to create a passkey: shared, borrowed and family devices that other people can unlock
- Respond to a lost or replaced device by removing its passkeys, reviewing signed-in devices and keeping recovery methods ready
- Recognize the limits of passkeys and attacks on account recovery, and keep using strong passwords with 2SV where passkeys aren't offered
Course outline
- 1.Choosing where a passkey is saved and which devices can use itLesson · 16 min
- 2.Signing in on another computer with your phone's passkey, and the proximity checkLesson · 14 min
- 3.When not to create a passkey: shared, borrowed and family devicesLesson · 12 min
- 4.After a lost or replaced device: removing passkeys and keeping recovery readyLesson · 16 min
- 5.Limits of passkeys, attacks on recovery, and when passwords plus 2SV remainLesson · 14 min
- 6.Passkeys across your devices: saving, signing in elsewhere and recovering after a lost phone: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.Passkeys across your devices: saving, signing in elsewhere and recovering after a lost phone: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- NCSC (UK): Passkeys: what you need to know
- NCSC (UK) blog: Passkeys: they're not perfect but they're getting better (January 2025)
- NCSC (UK): Top tips for staying secure online, Managing your passwords
- NCSC (UK) blog: Trusting the tech: using password managers and passkeys (June 2025)
- FIDO Alliance: Passkeys (passwordless authentication)
- Apple iPhone User Guide: Use passkeys to sign in to websites and apps on iPhone
- Apple Support: About the security of passkeys
- Google Account Help: Sign in with a passkey instead of a password
- Microsoft Support: What are passkeys and why they matter
See it with your own jobs and topics
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