Whether you want to change your password management therefore, or you’re a LastPass user annoyed by the service recent changes to its free tier, switching to the much-loved (and free) Bitwarden service is a good choice. Bitwarden is now the best free password manager for most people – as it works on all of your devices to make your logins easier and more secure – and setup is quick and easy.
To get started, go to Bitwarden’s site and create an account. It’s free and all you have to worry about is give yourself a solid master passwordMake it a good one, and one you don’t use anywhere else, as it will be one of the gatekeepers for all of your other passwords that you store in the service. After creating your account and logging in, you will need to verify your email address using the option in the top right corner.
If you come from another service, such as LastPass, you’ll want to find a tool that can export your passwords. On LastPass, this is tucked away under the Advanced options link at the bottom; Exporting your passwords basically converts them into a simple .CSV list.
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You then copy the list (which I am not screening for obvious reasons) directly to Bitwarden via the Tools menu > Import data
Your passwords will all show up on your main screen and should also sync with your various Bitwarden apps the next time you start using them. To edit any of your passwords, simply click on the hyperlink for a particular site or service. You can also use the gear icon that appears when you hover the mouse pointer over each entry to copy your username or password directly to your clipboard.
Those are Bitwarden basics, but you’re not quite done yet. Click on the profile picture in the top right corner and select My bill Click on it from there Log in in two steps in the leftmost sidebar.
This is where you set up two-factor authentication for your account. This is not required to do this use Bitwarden, but it is highly recommended that you protect your account from unauthorized logins. You can choose to email 2FA codes to you to verify any login attempts, but I recommend using these an authenticator app instead. They are similarly easy to set up and work as a password manager for all of your two-factor authentication tokens.
You may also want it Options link in the left sidebar, which allows you to adjust your Vault timeout, such as how long it stays open from the last time you accessed it. Pass that time and you will have to re-enter your password. Turn this down if you’re on a shared computer, and consider turning it a bit higher if you feel particularly safe in your setup.
Then grab all Bitwarden apps and extensions you need for your devices and browsers. Installing them is easy and they give you access to everything you have stored in your Bitwarden vault. For example, in the case of your browser, you need to right-click on a password prompt to open your Bitwarden autocomplete:
And that’s it. The free version of Bitwarden doesn’t offer many features – you don’t need to check your saved passwords for leaks, for example – but it does give you a quick and easy way to sync passwords across all your devices. What’s not to like?