What is Microsoft Passport & Passport Container & why do they startup?

I haven't concentrated on this before. But I have noticed that on Windows startup Microsoft Passport & Passport Container will always start and then after a few minutes later Microsoft Passport will stop! But Microsoft Passport Container will always stop after 7 minutes and around 28 seconds on Windows boot or restart.


I have noticed it run in the background before at start-up but never took much notice or care.

But recently I have spotted that whenever I use Google Chrome this also immediately triggers Microsoft Passport & Passport Container to start! The question is why? When I use Opera browser which is also Chromium this does not happen.

I use Waterfox Classic Web browser and this never ever gets triggered. Is this behaviour normal? Should they really be starting on Windows and what is triggering Google Chrome to also start them up? What do these services have anything to do with Google Chrome either?

Btw, I use Local account to sign in to Windows 10 and not a Microsoft account. This is why I was wondering why they still start up on Windows. I would like to know the trigger of them just for the benefit of the doubt, not that it is causing any performance issues. My Windows 10 Pro version is 1903.

spunk said:

http://revertservice.com/10/ngcctnrs...e%20accessible. Google is authenticating you as a user.

Ok in the link it shows "In Windows 10 it is starting only if the user, an application or another service starts it"

I want to know at Windows startup what application or service is triggering Microsoft Passport and Passport Container to start?

Is there any application I can use to trace the run trigger of these?
Also regarding Google Chrome. I have just imported all Google Chrome bookmarks, cookies, history, passwords, etc to Opera. And in Opera web browser it does not trigger these to start. Only thing that starts is Background Intelligent Transfer Service. But that at least I am aware of the trigger.

That means there are setting differences between Google Chrome and Opera despite Opera also being a Chrome engine. I have uninstalled Google Chrome as a test.

Still, the thing I don't understand is why Microsoft Passport and Passport Container runs at system startup when it is set to Manual (Trigger Start). These are triggered by something else not related to Chrome. These don't exist on Windows 8.1 or 7. I don't have another Windows 10 system to test if this behaviour is expected.

Can anyone check and verify if this is normal for them to startup and then stop are 7 minutes?

Many thanks for your response, Ghot!

I have all background apps turned off, including most of the Microsoft apps uninstalled. The App history tab suggests 0 CPU, network usage at system startup.

So something else must be triggering Microsoft Passport and the Passport Container. It always starts at system startup and then stops after 7 minutes and 28 seconds.

Are you sure these don't start on you in the first 7 minutes of your PC boot up? I want to know because if it does not, I need to investigate why it is happening.

Also like you, I use Waterfox web browser which is basically a Firefox browser and, yes with Waterfox and Firefox Microsoft Passport never gets triggered.

I have to admit that I've just seen it get triggered in Opera but only once when I signed into Outlook where I inputted my email address and password to log in and after that Microsoft Passport no longer gets triggered. But at least I know this about the Chromium browsers.

Now in this corona lockdown period all stores are closed, so I can't check the computers in stores with Windows 10 to test if they do the same thing. I'm relying on people's feedback here on the forums for their experiences.