How Smart Card Sign-in Works in Windows

This topic for IT professional provides links to resources about the implementation of smart card technologies in the Windows operating system. It includes the following resources about the architecture, certificate management, and services that are related to smart card use:

• Smart Card Architecture: Learn about enabling communications with smart cards and smart card readers, which can be different according to the vendor that supplies them
• Certificate Requirements and Enumeration: Learn about requirements for smart card certificates based on the operating system, and about the operations that are performed by the operating system when a smart card is inserted into the computer
• Smart Card and Remote Desktop Services: Learn about using smart cards for remote desktop connections
• Smart Cards for Windows Service: Learn about how the Smart Cards for Windows service is implemented
• Certificate Propagation Service: Learn about how the certificate propagation service works when a smart card is inserted into a computer
• Smart Card Removal Policy Service: Learn about using Group Policy to control what happens when a user removes a smart card

Windows edition and licensing requirements

The following table lists the Windows editions that support Smart Cards for Windows Service:

Smart Cards for Windows Service license entitlements are granted by the following licenses:

For more information about Windows licensing, see Windows licensing overview.