Unlock your vault with biometrics
Biometrics is a great option to unlock your Bitwarden clients quickly and securely. Bitwarden supports all biometrics options recognized by Windows Hello as well as Touch and Face ID for iOS.
First, you will need to set up your desired biometrics option within the Settings menu of your device. Then, in your Bitwarden app, you can enable the same biometrics option within the Settings tab located at the bottom of your screen.
Start by setting up your desired biometrics option within your system settings.
Windows
In the Bitwarden desktop app, go to File > Settings and in the Security section, you will be able to select Unlock with Windows Hello. You will be prompted to enter your Windows Hello biometrics and a check will appear next to the option once it has been enabled.
Require password or PIN on app start will be automatically selected for you, and we recommend keeping this option checked for your security.
macOS
In the Bitwarden desktop app, go to Settings and in the Security section, you will be able to select Unlock with Touch ID or Unlock with Face ID depending on what you have enabled in your system settings. You will be prompted to enter your biometrics and a check will appear next to the option once it has been enabled.
Linux
Biometric unlock is not currently available with the Linux desktop app.
Unlock with biometrics is currently supported for extensions on Chromium-based browsers, Firefox 87+, and Safari 14+.
Unlock with biometrics is enabled in the Bitwarden browser extensions through an integration with the Bitwarden desktop app, so start by enabling unlock with Biometrics in the Bitwarden desktop app (see above).
Then, in your Bitwarden desktop app, navigate to Settings and in the Options section, check Allow browser integration.
In your Browser, navigate to the extensions manager, open Bitwarden, and toggle Allow access to file URLs option.
Now, in your Bitwarden browser extension, open the Settings tab, scroll down to the Security section, and check the Unlock with biometrics box. You will need to enter your biometric, and your browser extension may ask you to accept a new permission for Bitwarden to communicate with cooperating native applications. Once you have accepted this new permission, your setup will be complete and unlock with biometrics will be available for use.
The "Communicate with cooperating native applications" permission is required to enable integration between your Bitwarden desktop app and browser extension. Your browser extension will still function normally without biometrics if you choose to decline this permission.