Windows Hello option randomly disappears from the desktop app

ejain · May 20, 2022, 5:39pm

I am signed in to multiple accounts in the desktop app (1.33.0). All of them have the “Unlock with Windows Hello” option enabled, and usually this works, even after rebooting.

But ever so often the “Unlock with Windows Hello” option is missing from the lock screen for one or more accounts, and I have to enter the master password. Is there some kind of timeout that forces this?

Also, when this happens and I try to unlock the browser extension, I get the “Scan your fingerprint” prompt, but then nothing happens after my fingerprint has been accepted…

I don’t have this issue with the desktop app on macOS (“Unlock with TouchID”), which has been working reliably without me ever having to re-enter a master password.

Has anyone else encountered this behavior?

ejain · July 20, 2022, 4:12am

Still an issue with the current version of the desktop app (2022.6.2).

ejain · October 13, 2022, 10:37pm

Still an issue with 2022.10.0.

bw-admin · October 14, 2022, 12:34pm

Hey @ejain do you see this behaviour with a fresh install? Have you created a Github issue for the team to investigate?

ejain · October 17, 2022, 6:39pm

I’m getting a bit tired doing clean installs and re-registering all my accounts for every update, but am happy to do so again if a future update has a potential fix.

github.com/bitwarden/clients

Desktop app doesn't reliably show "Unlock with Windows Hello" option

opened 06:37PM - 17 Oct 22 UTC

ejain

bug desktop

### Steps To Reproduce 1. Have one or more accounts set up with "Unlock with Wi…ndows Hello" enabled. 2. Happily use Windows Hello to unlock your accounts, until one day... ### Expected Result The "Unlock with Windows Hello" button on the "Your vault is locked" screen is shown for every account that has "Unlock with Windows Hello" enabled, ### Actual Result The "Unlock with Windows Hello" button on the "Your vault is locked" screen may or may not be shown for one or more of the accounts, in which case the account has to be unlocked by entering its master password. Having entered the master password, unlocking with Windows Hello usually works again, until it doesn't... It's also worth noting that the behavior of the Bitwarden browser extension in this situation is a bit strange: 1. Click "Unlock with biometrics" in the browser extension. 2. Windows Hello prompts for and accepts the fingerprint. 3. The browser extension doesn't register anything, no error, and I can keep clicking "Unlock with biometrics" and scanning my fingerprint all day long. I need to either enter the master password in the browser extension, or open the desktop app and enter the master password there to resolve the situation. ### Screenshots or Videos _No response_ ### Additional Context This has been an issue going back many versions. I have done multiple clean installs after each new version, no luck. I have also noticed the same issue on a separate macOS installation, but it's not quite as frequent there. ### Operating System Windows ### Operating System Version Windows 11 Pro (10.0.22000) ### Installation method Direct Download (from bitwarden.com) ### Build Version 2022.10.0 ### Issue Tracking Info - [X] I understand that work is tracked outside of Github. A PR will be linked to this issue should one be opened to address it, but Bitwarden doesn't use fields like "assigned", "milestone", or "project" to track progress.

ejain · November 4, 2022, 6:26pm

I think I figured out how to reproduce this problem; I added the exact steps to the GitHub issue.

To avoid this problem, before trying to unlock a vault from Chrome, you need to open the desktop app, and make sure that this account is selected in the desktop app before switching back to Chrome and unlocking from there.

ejain · January 21, 2023, 8:03pm

Using Windows Hello with multiple Bitwarden accounts is still broken in 2023.1.1.

bw-admin · January 22, 2023, 3:31pm

Thanks, I’ll review with the team!

ejain · March 5, 2023, 11:08pm

Still broken in 2023.2.0

ejain · April 30, 2023, 7:50pm

Looks like someone closed the GitHub issue, but it’s still broken in 2023.4.0

bw-admin · May 1, 2023, 2:04pm

Thanks @ejain I’ll review with the team.

ejain · August 30, 2023, 7:58pm

Still broken in 2023.7.1…

ejain · November 9, 2023, 11:08pm

Still broken in 2023.10.1…

charleslatham · November 10, 2023, 12:27pm

Thank you, @ejain, for keeping on this. The same thing has been happening to me for a long time. I need separate accounts for work and personal and this is an every day annoyance - especially since it happens on all of my business and home computers.