Passwordless Vault Unlock Stopped Working

[Karl_Drechsler]

Note: Please do not post Personally Identifiable Information like email address, personal phone number, physical home address, product key etc.

Issue abstract: Passwordless Vault Unlock Stopped Working

Detailed description: within the past few weeks, Passwordless Vault Unlock has stopped working. The request is sent FROM my HP laptop TO my Android Galaxy S24+ where I then APPROVE the request. However, the Edge / Norton extension for Password Manager responds with Resend Passwordless Vault Unlock request? and Password Manager doesn’t open on the HP laptop. I then receive a Norton notification on my S24+ re: Unlock Vault Request stating, “An error occurred while unlocking your desktop vault. Please try again later.”

Note that Password Manager is fully functionable on my S24+ (version 8.8.73938) and I can Enter Vault Password to open Password Manager on my HP laptop (I have an active subscription to Norton™ 360 Deluxe Plus).

Product & version number: Norton™ 360 Deluxe Plus

OS details: GalaxyS24+ (One UI version 8.0, Android version 16); HP Pavillion laptop (Windows 11 Home, version 25H2, OS build 26200.8117

What is the error message you are seeing? An error occurred while unlocking your desktop vault. Please try again later. (on the S24+ after approving the unlock request)

If you have any supporting screenshots, please add them:

[bjm]

@Karl_Drechsler

Detailed description: within the past few weeks, Passwordless Vault Unlock has stopped working. The request is sent FROM my HP laptop TO my Android Galaxy S24+ where I then APPROVE the request. However, the Edge / Norton extension for Password Manager responds with Resend Passwordless Vault Unlock request? and Password Manager doesn’t open on the HP laptop. I then receive a Norton notification on my S24+ re: Unlock Vault Request stating, “An error occurred while unlocking your desktop vault. Please try again later.”
[…]

Hello @Karl_Drechsler
~ fwiw ~ ChatGPT

What’s likely broken (based on your symptoms)

The passwordless flow in Norton Password Manager relies on:

• Your Norton account session
• A push approval channel (cloud relay)
• A trusted device pairing token

Your case suggests:

The approval is accepted locally on the phone, but the cloud relay back to the desktop fails

That’s why you get the loop:

• Desktop → “Resend request”
• Phone → “error unlocking desktop vault”

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Most probable causes (ranked)

1. Broken trusted device pairing (very common lately)

Recent updates (especially on Android 14–16 / One UI 6–8 range) have been quietly invalidating the pairing token.

Result:
Devices appear linked, but the approval can’t complete.

---

2. Account session mismatch

If either device has a stale auth token:

• Request goes out
• Approval happens
• But backend rejects the final unlock

---

3. Norton backend regression (this has been popping up recently)

Your exact error wording strongly suggests a server-side failure after approval, not a local config issue.

---

4. Edge extension state corruption

Less likely—but if the extension can’t process the returned token, you’ll see exactly this loop.

---

Fix path (targeted—not generic)

Don’t scattershot this—do it in this order:

---

Step 1 — Re-pair the devices (most important)

On both devices:

On your HP laptop (Edge):

• Open Norton Password Manager extension
• Sign out of your Norton account completely

On your Galaxy S24+:

• Open Norton app
• Sign out of your account

Then:

• Sign back in on phone first
• Then sign in on laptop
• When prompted → trust the device again

This forces a new pairing token (critical)

---

Step 2 — Kill stale push/auth sessions (Android side)

On your S24+:

• Go to Apps → Norton → Storage
• Clear cache only (not data)
• Force stop app
• Reopen Norton and confirm you’re signed in

---

Step 3 — Reinstall Edge extension (clean state)

In Microsoft Edge:

• Remove Norton Password Manager extension
• Restart browser
• Reinstall extension
• Sign back in

---

Step 4 — Test immediately (don’t wait hours)

Try passwordless unlock right away:

• You should see a fresh “Trust this device” flow
• Then test unlock again

---

If it STILL fails after that

At that point, it’s almost certainly a backend issue with Norton—and your symptoms match what others have seen when:

• Push approval succeeds
• Backend fails to issue unlock token
• Desktop never receives confirmation

In that case:

• There’s nothing left to fix locally
• It needs escalation (not standard support loop)

AI sourced content may make mistakes
Caveat: Norton Password Manager is not my daily rider

[Karl_Drechsler]

TLDNR: Step 1 fixed the issue.

I discovered additional sub steps necessary for Step 1: Sign out of both Norton Password Manager and Norton 360. Verify sign out on both laptop and phone. Sign back into Norton 360 on your phone and select trust this device, then sign into Norton 360 on the laptop. The pairing is now complete, and launching Norton Password Manager on the laptop pushes the approval request to the phone, where the approval now is received back by the laptop and Password Manager now opens.

[bjm]

@Karl_Drechsler

TLDNR: Step 1 fixed the issue.

I discovered additional sub steps necessary for Step 1: Sign out of both Norton Password Manager and Norton 360. Verify sign out on both laptop and phone. Sign back into Norton 360 on your phone and select trust this device, then sign into Norton 360 on the laptop. The pairing is now complete, and launching Norton Password Manager on the laptop pushes the approval request to the phone, where the approval now is received back by the laptop and Password Manager now opens.

Hello @Karl_Drechsler
Thanks for sharing additional sub steps and progress.