Microsoft offers plenty of sign-in options and account protection mechanisms to protect your Windows PC, and you don't necessarily have to rely on plain old passwords to secure them. Windows Hello, for instance, allows you to sign in with your face or fingerprint if your device has Windows Hello hardware. But what if your Windows PC doesn't meet the necessary hardware requirements, and you still want to unlock your PC remotely? Well, you're not entirely out of luck, at least not until you have an Android phone with a fingerprint scanner.

That's right, there's an Android app called 'Remote Fingerprint Unlock' which you can install on pretty much any Android phone with a fingerprint scanner, and use it to unlock your Windows PC remotely without any issues. This particular application was created by XDA Member Andrew-X, and it works very well.

How Remote Fingerprint Unlock works

Secure and seamless authentication

Remote Fingerprint Unlock requires two modules: a library for Windows and an Android app, which securely communicate between themselves over the local network. This means you can use the fingerprint sensor on your Android device to authenticate on the app and the Windows module, upon validating, seamlessly unlocks your Windows user account.

Under the hood, the credentials are encrypted using a key that is generated based on your fingerprint. Thanks to Android's security mechanism, the key is safeguarded by the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) of the SoC that powers the phone. The app itself doesn't store any passwords, and it doesn't even require internet permission to function.

The fingerprint authentication may fail to work on some devices, forcing you to troubleshoot by uninstalling the app and removing the stored fingerprints on your phone via the settings before trying again. It may or may not work even after troubleshooting, so keep that in mind. We were unable to get this app working on a OnePlus 12, but your mileage may vary.

Remote Fingerprint Unlock system requirements

Things you need to get this app working

Remote Fingerprint Unlock supports the following device configurations:

• Windows module:
  • x86 or x64 architectures
    • Note that Arm64 AKA Windows on Arm devices aren't supported yet. We've reached to the developer about this incompatibility, and we'll keep you updated with any info provided.

  • Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11 PCs

• Android module:
  • Android 6.0+

Remote Fingerprint Unlock features

Both free and Pro versions are available

The free version of Remote Fingerprint Unlock supports the following features:

• Support for remotely unlocking both local and online Microsoft accounts via fingerprint scanner
• Set up 1 PC with 1 account for remote unlocking
• Wi-Fi Tethering support

The pro features ($1.99 in-app purchase) include:

• No advertisements
• Adding multiple Windows PCs
• Adding multiple accounts per Windows PC
• Support Wake-on-LAN

How to set up Remote Fingerprint Unlock

Setting up Remote Fingerprint Unlock is fairly simple. All you need to do is download the Android app, install the Windows Fingerprint Credential Module, and go through the setup process in the app. As mentioned earlier, the utility doesn't require an Internet connection, but a local network is still needed. Hence, you have to make sure that your Windows PC and your Android phone are connected to the same Wi-Fi/access point.

1. Download and install Remote Fingerprint Unlock from the Google Play Store. You may have to download the APK from an external source, such as APKMirror, if Play Store doesn't let you download the app for your version of Android.
2. Download and install the latest Windows Fingerprint Credential module for your Windows PC.
3. When prompted, click Yes to allow the module to automatically create the necessary TCP/UDP rules, so the two modules can communicate.

   If you're using a firewall other than Windows Firewall, you may need to create TCP/UDP rules to allow the modules to communicate.

4. Open the Android app and go to the Scan section.
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5. Swipe down to scan for devices and select your laptop.
6. Tap on the PC you want to set up. You can choose to give it a name and/or send a Wake-on-LAN packet if you have the pro version.
7. After adding the PC, go to the Accounts section.
8. Tap on Add Account. Enter the username and password of the account you want to remotely unlock. For Microsoft accounts, the username is your email.
9. If you have more than one account, you'll need to tap the one you want to use to make it the default.

Now that the modules are installed, you can try unlocking the PC.

1. Lock your Windows PC and you should see a new user called "Fingerprint Unlock." If it says the module is active, then you are able to proceed.
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2. Open Remote Fingerprint Unlock on your phone and go to the Unlock section (it should go there by default).
3. Scan your fingerprint.

Your Windows PC will automatically unlock if you follow these steps. We recommend you check out the XDA forum thread if you have any issues setting it up.