Guide
Where is my passkey stored?
You know a passkey exists for a website, but you cannot find it, and the website will not show it to you. This page explains where passkeys live, how to check each place, and one particularly confusing case involving Google.
The short answer
A passkey is created in, and stored by, whichever credential manager was chosen when it was set up. The website it signs you in to can confirm that a passkey exists on your account, but it cannot display the passkey or tell you which manager holds it. To find it, list the passkeys in each manager you have used, on a device you still have. If none of them lists it, treat it as a broken or lost passkey and use A passkey is not working or Your phone was lost, stolen, or replaced.
A passkey lives in the manager that created it
When a passkey is created, the browser or operating system asks where to save it: the device itself, or a password manager. That choice decides where the passkey lives from then on. A passkey saved in one manager is not visible in another, and a website cannot move it between them. This is why the same person can have two passkeys for the same account and only be able to see one of them.
It also means the provider is the wrong place to look. An account's security page will usually list that a passkey exists, but the passkey itself is held by the manager.
Where to look
| Credential manager | Where to list its passkeys | How it travels |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Passwords / iCloud Keychain | Open the Passwords app (iOS 18 or later) or Settings > Passwords (iOS 17 or earlier), unlock, and choose a website or app. | Syncs across your Apple devices through iCloud Keychain. If an item seems missing, check Recently Deleted and confirm iCloud Keychain is on. |
| Google Password Manager (in Chrome) | Open Chrome's Password Manager and look for passkeys. | Passkeys saved with Google Password Manager are backed up and synced to your Google Account, and can be used on other devices signed in to the same Google Account. |
| Windows Hello | Windows Settings > Accounts > Passkeys. | Device-bound. A passkey in Windows Hello stays on that Windows device and can be deleted there. |
| A hardware security key | Use the key manufacturer's own software. | Device-bound to the key. It works wherever you can plug in or tap the key, but it does not sync. |
| 1Password | In the 1Password app or browser extension, as a saved item. | Syncs through 1Password. Deleting a passkey in 1Password does not remove it from the website; the website-side removal is separate. |
| Bitwarden | In the Bitwarden browser extension or mobile app, on the login item. | Syncs through Bitwarden. Only one passkey can be saved per login item. |
Google Authenticator is not a passkey manager. It generates one-time codes, and those codes are a different kind of sign-in method.
Synced or device-bound?
Two passkeys can look identical at sign-in but behave very differently when a device is lost.
- Synced passkeys are stored by a credential manager and can be available on other devices that use the same manager and account, for example Apple iCloud Keychain or Google Password Manager.
- Device-bound passkeys have their private key created and kept on a single device, such as Windows Hello or a hardware security key. They do not move to another device.
Providers can show that a passkey is present, but they do not label whether a specific passkey is synced or device-bound, because that is a property of the credential manager. The practical test is presence: sign in to the same manager on another device and see whether the passkey appears there. For what to do when a device is gone, see Your phone was lost, stolen, or replaced.
Two different things called a Google passkey
This is one of the most confusing corners of passkeys, because two different objects share the phrase "my Google passkey". They are managed in different places, and removing one does not remove the other.
| Google Account passkey | Passkey saved in Google Password Manager | |
|---|---|---|
| What it signs you in to | Your Google Account itself. | Another website or app that saved its passkey in Google Password Manager. |
| Where you manage it | In your Google Account's sign-in settings. | In Chrome's Password Manager. |
| What it does to your account | Adding one does not change or remove your existing sign-in or recovery factors. A passkey can bypass the second step because it verifies device ownership. | Nothing about your Google Account changes; it is simply where a passkey for a different site is kept and synced. |
| If you remove it | You may no longer be able to sign in to Google with that passkey. | The other website can no longer be signed in to from that stored passkey, but the Google Account is unaffected. |
A quick test: if you are looking for the passkey on your Google Account's own security page, it is a Google Account passkey. If you are looking in Chrome's Password Manager for a passkey that signs you in to some other service, it is a stored passkey for that service. Both use the same Google Account and the same unlock, which is exactly why they are easy to mix up.
Find the right next step
This guide is for finding the passkey, which the tool does not do. But if you have found it and it will not work, or the device that held it is gone, the step-by-step guide can point you to the right route. It never asks for a password, a code or a key.
Official sources
- Apple: Find saved passwords and passkeys on your iPhone
- Apple: Set up iCloud Keychain
- Apple: Use the Passwords app to manage passwords and passkeys
- Apple: About the security of passkeys
- Google: Sign in with a passkey instead of a password
- Google Chrome: Manage passkeys in Chrome
- Microsoft: Manage your saved passkeys
- Microsoft: Passkeys frequently asked questions
- 1Password — Save and sign in with passkeys in your browser
- Bitwarden: Autofill passkeys
Passkey Lifeboat is independent and not affiliated with these providers. These pages were last checked on 16–17 September 2026; provider instructions can change, so the provider's own page is always the final authority.