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antonz44's avatar
antonz44
Copper Contributor
Jul 15, 2024

Hello authentication in apps always defaults to fingerprint

I have fingerprint, face and PIN Windows Hello authentication options set up. When logging in to Windows, Windows helpfully attempts to use facial recognition whilst at the same time activating the fingerprint sensor. This allows me to use either option to login (or revert back to PIN in case both fail).

 

However once logged in, some of my apps (such as password managers, browsers etc) also use Hello authentication. However, in these cases the Hello prompt seems to always immediately default to fingerprint, without attempting facial recognition. This includes when the laptop is in Tablet Mode, when fingerprint sensor is physically inaccessible. In all cases, to use facial recognition I have to click through the "more choices" menu in the dialog, which is a lot of extra clicks and defeats the purpose of facial recognition being relatively quick and straightforward.

 

Alternatively I can disable fingerprint entirely in settings. This forces Hello to attempt facial before reverting to PIN, but this is obviously not ideal as it leaves me without fingerprint login available across Windows.

 

Is there a setting or fix that makes Hello authentication for apps behave the same way as it helpfully does at the login screen, ie not default to fingerprint each time?

4 Replies

  • vhw04's avatar
    vhw04
    Copper Contributor

    antonz44I have the same question/ issue about the default once you are logged in and it is needed for an app. Any progress on this front? Thank you!

  • antonz44's avatar
    antonz44
    Copper Contributor
    Hi folks,

    Any other solutions to this? Do you need a video to understand the issue better or something?
    • antonz44's avatar
      antonz44
      Copper Contributor

      KapilArya as stated in the initial message, facial recognition is already the default for Windows login. Anyway I checked the relevant registry value again and it is indeed set for face.

       

      However, the behaviour once logged in and authentication is requested by an app (password manager, browser etc) is not the same and this is where my problem lies.

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