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The easiest misunderstanding about passkeys is also the most flattering one. They sound like the clean ending to a messy story: no more passwords, no more vaults, no more resets, no more credential fatigue.
The real transition is less dramatic and more useful. Passkeys are improving sign-in, but most people still live in a mixed environment. A few important services support passkeys well. Many accounts still use passwords. Recovery codes, shared access, and older accounts still need somewhere sensible to live. That is why a password manager has not become less important for me. It has become more clearly defined.
The shift is not from passwords to no passwords
It is from one type of credential inventory to another.
Google's own account guidance explains that users can sign in with a passkey, while Chrome now treats passkeys as something users can manage inside Google Password Manager. Apple is doing the same with its Passwords experience across devices.
That matters because it changes the job of the manager. It is no longer just where you keep difficult passwords. It is where you keep track of how each account expects to be accessed.
Where a manager still earns its place
Even after enabling passkeys, I still rely on a manager for a few steady reasons.
- Legacy accounts still need strong unique passwords.
- Some accounts offer passkeys on one platform before another.
- Recovery codes need a home.
- Shared or family access still needs review.
- Autofill and account history still save time.
The improvement is not that passkeys eliminate organization. It is that they make good organization feel less painful.
What changed in my own setup
Before passkeys, my goal was simple: stop reusing passwords.
After passkeys, the goal became slightly broader: know which accounts still depend on passwords, which accounts now use passkeys, and which accounts would become a problem if I lost a device or recovery path.
That sounds like a small distinction, but it changes how I review accounts. I no longer ask only whether a password is strong. I ask whether the sign-in method is current, whether recovery is clear, and whether there is a second factor I trust.
NIST's current digital identity guidance reflects this broader view. It focuses less on ritual password changes and more on stronger authenticators, better recovery, and systems that people can realistically maintain over time. In practice, that means less churn and more visibility.
A simple way to think about the hybrid period
If you are moving into passkeys now, the calmest order I have found is this:
- Start with email and cloud storage accounts.
- Enable passkeys where they are well supported.
- Keep unique passwords for the accounts that still need them.
- Save recovery codes deliberately.
- Review which devices can actually use the new sign-in flow.
That last step matters more than most setup guides admit. A passkey only feels modern when it works on the devices you already reach for. If the workflow breaks on an older laptop, a work browser profile, or a shared household device, the friction does not disappear. It moves.
The quiet risk people skip
The risk I now pay more attention to is not weak password creation. It is partial migration.
A partial migration looks tidy from the outside. Maybe your Google account has a passkey. Maybe your bank still relies on a password and SMS. Maybe your family streaming login is shared in a text message because nobody updated the group vault. Nothing is obviously broken, but the system is harder to reason about than it needs to be.
That is where a password manager still helps. It gives the hybrid period a map.
What I would review once a month
I keep the review short.
- Which important accounts still rely on passwords?
- Which accounts gained passkey support since last month?
- Are recovery codes still accessible and understandable?
- Does any shared login still live outside the manager?
- Did any device change make autofill or passkey use less reliable?
A review like that takes far less time than a breach cleanup weekend.
What I tell friends now
I no longer frame passkeys and password managers as competing answers. Passkeys improve the sign-in method. A password manager improves the operating system around that method.
One reduces exposure to reused secrets. The other reduces confusion about what still needs attention. Together they are much easier to live with than the old mix of memory, browser prompts, and hopeful improvisation.
Sources and further reading
- Google Account Help: Sign in with a passkey
- Google Chrome Help: Manage passkeys in Chrome
- Google Account Help: Manage your saved passwords in Android or Chrome
- Apple Support: Find saved passwords and passkeys on your iPhone or iPad
- NIST SP 800-63B, Revision 4
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