Google starts taking steps to make passwords 'a rarity, and eventually obsolete'

Person holding phone with a multi-factor authentication sign-in process on the screen. (Credit: Getty Images)

Google is intensifying its effort to push users away from passwords to passkeys, a more secure technology.

The company, on Tuesday, announced passkeys would become the default option across Google accounts. That means the next time users sign into their Gmail, YouTube, or other Google-run service, they’ll see a prompt to create and use a passkey instead of a password. (While passkeys will be the default option, users who prefer to continue using passwords will have that option.)