Scope

Platform: Windows

Version: Windows 11, including version 24H2’s documented application-consent behavior

This guide distinguishes two settings that sound similar but answer different questions: which passkeys are saved locally, and whether an application may access passkeys. It does not cover creating a passkey for a particular website, configuring an organization-managed PC, or choosing a credential provider.

Documentation-only disclosure: This guide is based on current Microsoft and FIDO documentation. TechNest did not operate a device or alter these settings.

Prerequisites

You need a Windows 11 account that can open the Settings app. To review stored credentials, at least one passkey must already have been saved locally for an app or website. To assess an access prompt, you also need an application or website that offers passkey registration or sign-in. Organization-managed devices may present controls differently, so follow your administrator’s policy when applicable.

Choose the right control

The word “passkey” appears in both places, but the decisions are different.

Your questionRelevant Windows controlWhat the documented control addresses
Which passkeys are stored locally?Settings > Accounts > PasskeysViewing and deleting passkeys saved on the Windows device
May this application access passkeys?The Windows 11 application-consent promptWhether passkey registration or authentication can proceed for that application

This distinction prevents a common category error: an application-access decision is not the same task as reviewing the credentials stored on the computer.

Procedure

Review locally stored passkeys

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Select Accounts.
  3. Select Passkeys.
  4. Review the entries shown for passkeys saved locally on the device.
  5. If your goal is removal, choose the relevant entry’s delete control only after confirming that you have another acceptable sign-in or recovery route for that account. That final check is a safety recommendation, not a claim that every provider offers the same recovery process.

Microsoft’s current support page identifies this Settings location and says it can be used to view and delete locally saved passkeys. A locally stored credential is not automatically the same thing as every passkey available through a cloud-backed provider. FIDO distinguishes passkeys synchronized through a cloud service from device-bound passkeys that stay on one device.

Windows 11 version 24H2 documents a consent prompt before applications access passkeys. Read the requesting application’s identity and the action you initiated before choosing. Allow access only when you intended to register or use a passkey with that application.

If you decline, do not interpret a failed registration or sign-in as evidence that the stored passkey was deleted. Microsoft’s documentation says declining consent prevents passkey registration and authentication for that application; it describes an access decision, not removal from the stored-passkey list.

Verification and expected outcome

Return to Settings > Accounts > Passkeys. Confirm that the page presents the locally stored entries you intended to review, or that it contains no relevant local entry. Separately, when a compatible application requests passkey access on Windows 11 version 24H2, confirm that Windows presents the consent decision before the application proceeds.

Expected outcome: You can identify whether your task concerns a stored credential or an application’s permission, and you use the matching control instead of treating the two as interchangeable. If consent is declined, the affected application should not complete passkey registration or authentication.

Cautions

Deleting a credential and denying an application’s access are different actions. Treat deletion as destructive and confirm an alternative sign-in or recovery route first. Do not approve an unexpected access prompt merely to clear it. On a work or school PC, stop and consult the applicable administrator policy if a control is unavailable or managed.

Rollback or removal

Simply viewing the stored-passkey list does not require rollback. If you dismiss or deny an access request, retry only after deciding that the identified application should receive access. This guide does not promise that a deleted credential can be restored; use the account provider’s current recovery or passkey-creation documentation if you intentionally removed one.

For other bounded Windows tasks, see how to back up and restore a WSL 2 distribution. If you are reviewing optional desktop utilities at the same time, the PowerToys workflow guide separates its tools by practical use case.

Sources

  1. Manage your saved passkeys Microsoft Support Retrieved
  2. Support for passkeys in Windows Microsoft Learn Retrieved
  3. FIDO Passkeys: Passwordless Authentication FIDO Alliance Retrieved

Mira Halden

Mira Halden is TechNest's disclosed editorial pen name. The name identifies the editor responsible for the final review.

Process note: AI assisted with research organization and drafting; the responsible TechNest editor authorized publication after review. AI-use policy