Hello, I can’t get the Bitwarden browser extension for Edge to work with biometrics, specifically Microsoft Hello (camera face recognition). I have read extensively online about this issue and have tried the following: In the Bitwarden desktop app I have both “unlock with windows hello” and “allow browser integration” checked, BUT, when, in the Bitwarden Edge extension, I try to check the box next to “Unlock with biometrics” it says “Awaiting confirmation from desktop-Please confirm using biometrics in the Bitwarden desktop application to set up biometrics for browser.”
Why isn’t the desktop app confirming? And, by the way, I reinstalled both the desktop app and the browser extension just before setting out to do this and neither is from the Microsoft App Store.
Thank you for your help.
@HOWARDG Welcome to the forum!
Can you successfully unlock the BW desktop app now with Windows Hello?
If yes, then: Did you have the BW desktop app up and running (you must be logged in) when you tried to activate biometrics in the browser extension?
Did you also “Allow access to file URLs” for the BW extension (Edge → edge://extensions/ → Open the Bitwarden entry there…) ?
PS: Do you use PIN unlock with the BW Edge extension? There is a bug around this (a fix is on it’s way), and it might affect also setting up biometrics at the moment. So you could try to deactivate PIN unlock temporarily.
Thanks for your reply. I cannot log into the BW desktop app because the option to do so is grayed-out. After I do log in with my password I can see no method to enable Hello to open the app. I also enabled “allow access to file URLs.” And no, I do not have PIN unlock enabled.
Okay, first: what version of the desktop app do you have installed currently? – If you don’t have the latest version 2025.11.2 as a standalone app version (i.e. not installed via the Microsoft Store, as this version doesn’t provide biometric unlock on Windows!), then first make sure you install the latest standalone desktop app version through that official link: Download the Bitwarden Password Manager App for iPhone, Android, Chrome, Safari, and More | Bitwarden (–> choose “Standard Installer”).
When you then login again in the desktop app, go to “File” → Settings and check “Unlock with Windows Hello”.
(If is still checked, then uncheck it, close Settings, lock your vault and close the desktop app. Then open the desktop app again, login and finally check “Unlock with Windows Hello”.)
However, if you want to be able to unlock the desktop app with biometrics also every time you start the desktop app the first time, then uncheck “Require master password or PIN on app restart”.
After that, lock your vault and close the desktop app.
When you now start the desktop app, you should be able to unlock it with Windows Hello.
(BTW, all this requires that Windows Hello was set up first and works generally on your computer)
You could report back if works now to unlock the desktop app on app start… but with that, you could try again to set up the biometric unlock on the Edge BW extension again. (of course make sure, that “Allow browser integration” in the desktop app Settings and “Allow access to file URLs” for the BW Edge extension are still enabled)
Thanks! Here is the “about” info on the app:
Version 2025.11.2
SDK ‘main (8ef7951)’
Shell 37.7.0
Renderer 138.0.7204.251
Node 22.20.0
Architecture x64
As far as I can recall, I downloaded it from the Bitwarden site, not the Microsoft Store. Is there any way to ascertain the source of the app from within the app? If not, should I delete the app and install the app from Bitwarden site to be certain?
Decide for yourself. – If it is from Bitwarden itself, you don’t need to reinstall it now.
And as it is the current version and not from the Microsoft store, you could continue with my second paragraph of my previous post.
Hi. That worked-kind of. I followed all instructions, leaving the BW desktop app open and running while configuring the BW extension. I checked (enabled) the following options for the BW extension:
unlock with biometrics, and
ask for biometrics on launch.
Unlock with PIN is NOT enabled. Time-out is set for 4 hours. Timeout action is set for “lock.”
I received the message “unlock with biometrics set.” (Hooray!)
So I closed Edge and closed the BW desktop app. I reopened Edge but not the BW app and tried to log in to a website. No luck! I was asked for my password.
I tried a second time, but this time I left the BW app open and running. This time it worked.
So–is it necessary to always keep the BW app running as a PC background task if you want MS Hello to work with Bitwarden?
Thanks.
Yep. It is. – But the desktop app doesn’t have to be unlocked the whole time for that – it just has to be open/running in the background.
Thanks. I’m not sure what you mean when you say the app need not be unlocked the whole time but just has to be open/running in the background. I can’t find a distinction between unlocked and open/running. The File menu on the app has these options:
- New login
- New item
- New folder
- Sync vault
- Import data
- Export vault
- Settings
- Lock vault
- Lock all vaults
- Log out
- Quit Bitwarden
Is “Log out” what I want here?
No, the Desktop app must remain logged in at all times if you wish to use Windows Hello for the browser extension.
Instead, open Settings. In the “SECURITY” section at the top of the Settings, ensure that you have enabled (checked) the option “Unlock with Windows Hello” (and optionally disable the option “Require master password or PIN on app restart”); also ensure that the “Timeout Action” is set to “Lock”. Next, scroll down to the section titled “APP SETTINGS (ALL ACCOUNTS)” and confirm that you have enabled the option “Allow browser integration”. It will also be helpful if you enable (check) the 5 options immediately above “Allow browser integration”, as well:
Having done the above, Windows Hello should work smoothly for unlocking the browser extension, as long as you refrain from ever selecting “Quit Bitwarden” in the File menu.
Of course, some additional configuration must also be done within the browser extension as a pre-requisite for biometric unlocking to work, but evidently, you (@HOWARDG) have already completed that part. Nonetheless, in case anybody else is reading this forum thread and wants the full instructions, here are the remaining steps:
After completing the Desktop app configuration as described above, open your browser(s), right-click the Bitwarden browser extension icon in the top right corner, and select “Manage extension”. In the window that opens, if you see an option labeled “Allow access to file URLs”, then you must enable it. If there is no such option, that’s OK.
At this point, open the Bitwarden browser extension, go to Settings > Account Security, and enable (check) the option “Unlock with biometrics” (and optionally enable “Ask for biometrics on launch”). If prompted for permission to “communicate with cooperating native applications”, click “Allow”. Next, go to your Bitwarden Desktop app, click “Approve” at the verification prompt, and complete the Windows Hello authentication when prompted.
@HOWARDG Thankfully, @grb added now some important points!
Well, open/running only meant that the app was started (= not closed).
Even more useful for you would be the distinction between logging in and locking (and therefore also between logging out and locking) – as there is a helpful site about that already, so I would recommend it now: Understand Log In vs. Unlock | Bitwarden
Hm, there are reports about a few people having survived this successfully…
I think the main point is: the desktop app must always be opened first – before you want to unlock the extension or rather: before you even open the browser, with the respective extension, the first time. (That’s why it’s so useful, as @grb suggested, to let the desktop app start with the system – and ideally to never “Quit” it.)