Bitwarden Desktop App on Windows used to work perfectly fine with Biometrics for me.
But for a while it does not work properly anymore.
If I restart Bitwarden it requires me to enter my master password just as I configured, that is fine.
After I entered my master password it additionally asks for the Biometrics which I think was not the case prviously, but that would be acceptable.
After supplying the Biometrics popup, the Vault is displayed properly.
But if I now lock the vault and then select “Unlock with WIndows Hello” there is simply nothing happening.
No Biometrics popup is displayed and nothing at all happens.
I have to select “Unlock with Master Password”.
After entering the master password, now the Biometrics popup is coming and after fulfilling it the Vault is displayed.
So Bitwarden for me currently can halfway work with Hello and halfway not.
The Biometrics option for the Browser integration also does not work due to that but requires that I always enter my master password.
I’m on Windows 11 and Bitwarden 2025.7.0.
I already tried to reboot Windows and I also uninstalled and reinstalled the Bitwarden Desktop application, but neither worked.
In the log file I see, that when the Biometrics is queried after master password entry, I get
@grb while the issue I opened is related to this topic here it is not the same, and neither is related to the issue you linked to.
What you linked to says the fingerprint is asked for but does not unlock the vault and that the focus sometimes is not on the Hello popup.
The issue I opened is about errors that make it to the logfile and clearly prevent Biometrics to work at all do not make it to the UI in any way. “Unlock with Windows Hello” is simply ignored without any popup coming up and the Hello popup after unlocking with master password comes up, is accepted, the vault is displayed, but also no error shown though in the log file is an error that will make unlocking with Biometrics impossible but is just ignored and the Vault displayed.
In the thread here I hope to get help finding the underlying issue that prevents me from unlocking the Vault using Biometrics as I suspect this is less a Bitwarden bug but some messed up state on my OS that somehow needs to be fixed.
Did you also make sure, that the local data of the desktop app was deleted after deinstallation? (see here: Data Storage | Bitwarden)
I probably would also try to “reset” Bitwarden biometrics data (I think Bitwarden changed a lot in the last months there) before reinstalling the desktop app again – you can delete it here, but be careful to not delete something else:
(Windows) → Control Panel → Credential Manager → Windows Credentials → Bitwarden_biometric…
(if you deleted all Bitwarden related info there, worst thing would be that you have to log in again in the BW apps)
Did you also make sure, that the local data of the desktop app was deleted after deinstallation? (see here: Data Storage | Bitwarden)
Not explicitly, but as all logged in accounts were gone, I somehow assumed it was delete on uninstallation.
I now quit the app, renamed the directory, started the app, re-logged in, remade the settings.
But nothing changed, both of the error messages come to the log and the behavior is the same.
(Windows) → Control Panel → Credential Manager → Windows Credentials → Bitwarden_biometric…
Already had that idea too and deleted everything starting with Bitwarden and then relogging in in the app, also no success.
Same here. Every time the desktop app gets an update — or worse, the Firefox extension — I have to cross my fingers. How can biometrics break every couple of months?
As mentioned earlier, the first unlock after the desktop restart is currently unavailable; however, they are considering reinstating it.
The issue with biometrics unreliability since the middle of last year is that around that time, they significantly changed how it was implemented to make it safer. However, they have been experiencing problems making it reliable for the desktops and different browsers ever since. Now, they have decided that the safer implementation is untenable, so they have made major changes in v2025.8.0 to make it more reliable. They’ll be making changes to make this safer in the long run as well.
I, too, am a user of FF biometrics on Windows. I understand the pain. I wish I could say things would be better from now on, but more changes are coming yet. I am sure of this: Bitwarden is making efforts to make things safer or more reliable or both, but they haven’t succeeded at both in this area yet.
What makes you think this is only on “first unlock” @Nail1684?
That has nothing to do with my thread.
I cannot use Biometrics at all right now due to this and seek for help to being able to use it all again.
Until 2025.8.1
After the unlock with password it asked for Biometrics and then logged the first error message to the log file.
And on each subsequent try to unlock with Biometrics the second error message is logged to the log file.
Since 2025.8.2
There is no Biometrics query after the password unlock.
But still on each try to unlock using Biometrics the second error message is logged to the log file.
I am currently unable to use any Biometrics with Bitwarden while I can pretty well unlock the OS using Biometrics.
This is very annoying and disturbing and also more unsafe as it increases the risk that the master password is typed into the wrong location.
Well, I asked @kringol exactly because it wouldn’t have to do with your thread. If @kringol confirmed it, I would have move their post into the corresponding thread for that (other) topic.
PS: And because @kringol complained about a “change in behaviour” I suspected they may not mean your issue, but the general change of the desktop app with version 2025.8.0:
That is indeed not the expected behaviour with version 2025.8.2, since after the first unlock with master password or PIN, you should be able to then use Windows Hello to unlock the desktop app. (also see the screenshot from the Release Notes 2025.8.0 that I added above)
And I’m Sorry to read, that your issue still isn’t resolved.
Ah, sorry, just wanted to clarify in case your are able to help me with my problem but just got me wrong.
since after the first unlock with master password or PIN, you should be able to then use Windows Hello to unlock the desktop app
Yeah, for me it was always like that. I always had the master password on relaunch enabled to occasionally type in the master password to not forget it.
The only thing that changed for me with 2025.8.2 was, that BW does not try to store the key in the Biometrics store after initial login anymore, but the (probable) permission problem I have persists and I don’t know how and where to fix it.
I’m Sorry, I don’t know how to assist any further, since you already tried everything I would have thought of. (well, apart from more drastic escalations like reinstalling Windows etc. )
Right now you did.
I said I hoped you got me wrong and are able to help when understanding the problem correctly.
Unfortunately, you did not get me wrong.
Yes, but that was intended to mainly fix that there is no helpful error message (or any error message at all) displayed when it fails, as from the log line I assume that it is a problem on my local machine and not something the Bitwarden app does wrongly.
Thus this thread to get help in resolving my local problem that causes it to fail.
Not yet, no.
I am a paying customer, but in my mindset I only pay for the server space and not for the FOSS software, so first tried to get the issue solved here.
Well, the only thing that I wonder is, if there are any peculiarities about your system. So, is it just a normal private Windows machine with the usual programs on it – or is it company-owned machine with restrictions from their side? Did you install any security software that might interfere? Did you change some security settings or configurations of Windows on your own? etc.
If there would be anything out of the ordinary, that might (speculation!) be helpful to find the cause. Speaking of…
Yeah, and perfectly fine. But you can contact Bitwarden support at any time (in fact, Bitwarden staff also regularly recommends that here in the forum, especially with problems where we as a community can’t assist any further).
Yeah, and perfectly fine. But you can contact Bitwarden support at any time (in fact, Bitwarden staff also regularly recommends that here in the forum, especially with problems where we as a community can’t assist any further).
Well, I did try to contact support and also got answers, just not really any substantial help at all,
just getting one automated and three manual replies that all looked like my messages were not even read properly and just some standard answer templates used that are half-matching.
But anyway, I just now was able to resolve it myself.
The Biometrics dialog recently changed and now also provided PIN and Face Recognition options.
As PIN and FR did work to Unlock Bitwarden but Fingerprint still gave that error in the log,
I now deleted all my fingerprints and reregistered all fingerprints.
This seems to have resolved whatever permission problem existed and now Biometrics unlock works as expected again.
)
- wasn’t sure before how you meant it.