Windows Hello, a new feature in Windows 10, allows you to sign into your computer with your fingerprint or facial recognition. It now allows you to sign into apps and websites via Microsoft Edge, too.

What You’ll Need

You’ll need compatible hardware to use Windows Hello. Some modern laptops and tablets have Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint readers and webcams, so it may just work out of the box (if that’s you, skip down to the next section). If you have a pre-Hello laptop or desktop, though, you’ll need to buy a USB fingerprint reader or webcam.

Not every fingerprint reader or webcam will work with Windows Hello—it needs to have been designed with Windows Hello in mind.

We’ve tested two different USB fingerprint readers from different manufacturers (yes, just two—there still aren’t many Windows Hello-compatible readers out there). We recommend the Eikon Mini Fingerprint Reader ($25). It’s the cheaper, smaller, and more reliable of the two we tested, so there’s no reason not to go with it.

The BIO-key SideSwipe Compact USB Fingerprint Reader ($40) is officially endorsed and sold by Microsoft, but didn’t work as well in our tests. We sometimes had to swipe multiple times to sign in with the BIO-key reader, but we never had to swipe more than once with the Eikon reader. So we’d recommend going with the Eikon instead.

Both readers are designed for laptops, although there are desktop versions available with a cable attached.

You can also purchase Windows Hello-compatible webcams that will automatically sign you into your PC by looking at your face. However, the selection of Windows Hello-compatible webcams is pretty terrible. Intel’s RealSense hardware supports Windows Hello, but Intel just sells it as a developer kit. The Razer Stargazer webcam (shown below) incorporates Intel RealSense hardware and should work with Windows Hello, but is a whopping $150—not to mention some less-than-stellar reviews. The $129 Tobii eye tracking gaming peripheral also claims to support Windows Hello. We didn’t test any of these devices.

These webcams promise facial recognition on your existing PC, but you may want to wait for future Windows Hello-compatible webcams with solid reviews.

How to Set Up Windows Hello

If you do have Windows Hello compatible hardware, head to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in Options. If you haven’t set up a PIN, you’ll have to create a PIN from here first.

If you do have Windows Hello compatible hardware, you’ll see either “Fingerprint” or “Face” appear under Windows Hello here. Click the “Add” button to add a fingerprint or the “Set Up” button to set up facial recognition.

You’ll see a “Windows Hello isn’t available on this device” message here instead if you don’t have Windows Hello-compatible hardware.

Windows will guide you through setting up fingerprint or face recognition—for example, by swiping across the fingerprint reader until it recognizes your full fingerprint.

If you added a fingerprint, you can click “Add Another” to add another fingerprint.

How to Sign Into Windows with Windows Hello

You can now sign into Windows using Windows Hello. You don’t have to do anything special. On the sign-in or lock screen, just swipe your finger across the fingerprint reader. If you’re using facial recognition, you should just be able to sit at your computer and it should automatically notice you’re there and sign in for you. You can do this right from the lock screen.

Windows Hello won’t be the only way to sign in. You can continue using your PIN or password to sign in by selecting it on the sign-in screen.

How to Sign Into Apps and Websites with Windows Hello

Universal Windows apps can now use Windows Hello to authenticate you, just as banking apps and other sensitive apps use fingerprint sensors on the iPhone and Android phones to authenticate you. For example, the Enpass password management app allows you to unlock your password database with Windows Hello rather than typing your master password.With Windows 10’s Anniversary Update, Microsoft extended Windows Hello to apps and websites. Apps that use Windows Hello will show a “Making Sure It’s You” dialog and ask you to authenticate with your Windows Hello device.

Microsoft Edge now allows you to use Windows Hello to sign into websites. This uses the new FIDO U2F specification that Google uses for its physical security tokens. You’ll be able to sign into a website—such as your online banking website—once with your password. You’ll then be able to set up Windows Hello so you can quickly sign in in the future without typing your password for that service.

This feature isn’t widespread at the moment, but Microsoft is showing it off via the Windows Hello Test Drive website. More websites and browsers may support it in the future.

Windows Hello can also be used to quickly authenticate when you make a purchase in the Windows Store, too. Rather than type your password, you can use a stored fingerprint or facial recognition to authenticate the purchase.

http://www.howtogeek.com/281489/how-to-log-in-to-your-pc-with-windows-hello/