![]() ![]() If your passwords are saved in Chrome, you should strongly consider using two-factor authentication to log into your Google account. Perhaps more so, because it’s easier to reset a Google account password. You have to treat your Google account password with the same care as a LastPass user. The password has to be complex and unique. If someone learns or guesses your Google account password, you are completely compromised. You’re trusting Google with the passwords that protect the rest of your life – your bank, your shopping, your travel, your private life. You already have good reason to treat the password for your Google account as if it’s a state secret.īut now the stakes are higher. All of that information is readily available if you log in to your Google account. It knows what websites you’ve visited, it knows where you’ve been in the real world thanks to Android and Google Maps, it knows who your friends are thanks to Google Photos. How to be safe using Chrome’s password managerįiercely guard your Google account passwordīefore we get to passwords, surely you already have in mind that Google knows everything about you. So Chrome’s password manager can save passwords and fill them in automatically, and now it helps you use secure passwords. It’s also supposed to pop up and offer to fill in passwords on apps, but that’s pretty sketchy so far.) Sometimes the app can pull up a site and automatically fill in the password. It’s easy to look up a password in the app. ![]() ![]() (The LastPass app is far better on a phone. Once you’ve done that, you can look up passwords and copy/paste them into websites.Ĭhrome is limited as a password manager: it’s not meant to be used for anything besides website passwords, and it’s a bit clumsy to look up a password on phones. When you look up your saved passwords, Google has increased security by requiring the Google account password to be entered again before a password can be displayed. (You can also click on Settings / Passwords, or type in chrome://settings/passwords.) It’s optional but convenient to sync your passwords online, so they’re stored in your Google account and can be accessed from other devices. If you are logged into your Google account when you use Chrome (and you probably are), then Google has also made it easier to access your saved passwords by adding it to the dropdown menu when you click the account icon in the upper right corner. This is a big deal! It will help you get started on the process of trusting your password manager and not using the same password everywhere. When you create a new account on a website, Chrome will now automatically suggest a complex, unique password. If you’re not going to use LastPass, then you should know what Chrome can do to keep you safe. Now, though, Google has added a feature that is genuinely helpful. It does some of the same things as any password manager: it offers to save passwords for websites when you sign in for the first time, and it tries to automatically fill in the password when you return to the site.Ĭhrome has handled passwords in a mediocre and uninteresting way for several years, not very helpful but not bad enough to warn you about. Let’s look at what Chrome can do to help you with passwords.Īll of you have seen the window in the above screen shot: “Do you want Google Chrome to save your password for this site?” There is a password manager built into Chrome. Don’t worry, I’m not judging you, at least as far as you know. It only works if it becomes a habit, and it’s hard to change our habits. It’s a little complicated to get started. You will probably also find an extra feature that makes a password manager a better choice maybe it will be sharing passwords with family members, or using the LastPass app on a phone, or storing other secure information about drivers licenses or passports.īut I know some of you won’t use LastPass. The important reason is that LastPass is more secure – and this is an extraordinarily dangerous time to be online. Saving passwords in Chrome is easy and kind of secure, as long as you take a couple of precautions that we’ll talk about below.įirst, to be clear: everyone should use LastPass or another full-fledged password manager. okay! Not bad! Better than nothing, absolutely. Google has improved the password management built into the Chrome browser. ![]()
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