On several accounts I’ve setup both physical security keys and Bitwarden passkeys. If a site prompts for a passkey and my vault is locked (and the domain isn’t excluded), Bitwarden will pull up the unlock screen with no clear option to fallback to a device/security key. Closing the popup falls back to OS passkey handling, but this is not clear like it is when unlocked and prompted for a passkey (use device or security key is clearly listed as an option.)
I did my best to see if anyone else posted about this issue, and only found this post from 2024.
EDIT: Refined post to be a UX Improvement suggestion, now that I’ve been informed that closing the unlock pop-out on Windows falls back to the OS passkey options. That’ll be my workaround for now.
What is your OS? On Windows, if you simply close the unlock prompt (i.e., close the floating pop-out window in which the unlock prompt is rendered), you should be presented with the Windows Security pop-up to select a passkey (e.g., “Security Key”).
I agree that the UI for this workflow could be improved.
I would mostly like for this to be received and considered. I think the UI Would be improved by adding a button/link to use the device/security key. But I also know there can be negative implications if you add too much to a screen. So I’m fine with the UX team making the call. I’d just feel good knowing it has been considered.
Now that I know how closing works to then use a physical key, I’ll be able to use that method.
That’s difficult to predict (and impossible to guarantee) on a user community forum like this one (I am a Bitwarden customer like you, and have no special access to the development or product management teams). We’ll keep this thread open as a feature request about the UI, and see if it gains some traction!