From there, click Enable Auto-fill On Page Load. You can enable that by clicking the Bitwarden icon, selecting Settings, and clicking Options. The browser extension has a setting that automatically fills in your username and password. Click the Bitwarden icon on your browser's toolbar, then click on the login to fill in your information. The next time you want access to that site, head on over to the site's login page. Click Yes, Save Now.Ĭongratulations! That login is now in your vault. When you enter your username and password, Bitwarden will ask you if you want to save your login information. Now what? Head over to a website that you want to sign up for or where you already have an account. You've got your Bitwarden account set up and the browser extension installed. Once you've set up your account, grab the Bitwarden extension for one of the supported browsers (you probably use at least one of them): Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge, Safari, Vivaldi, Brave (you can install the extension from within the browser), or Tor Browser. If you want a little more control and to embrace your inner geek, you can grab the source code on GitHub and install Bitwarden on your server. It's in your best interest to make your master password as strong and complex as you can-and as you can remember.

That's the one that will keep your other passwords safe. When you're signing up, you'll be asked to create a master password. Your account gives you access to a secure space (called a vault) to store your passwords. It's free (although there are also paid plans). Note: I'm not going to cover all Bitwarden's features in this post, just its core password management ones. Let's take a quick look at how to use it. So where can an open source enthusiast turn to find an alternative?Įnter Bitwarden, an application that's aiming to become the go-to open source password manager on the web. While solid, those services are also proprietary and closed source. Many people turn to popular services like LastPass and 1Password to help them wrangle their passwords. Like most of us, you probably have a hard time remembering all those passwords, no matter how simple or complex they are. ( Note: This article was first published, in a slightly different form, at and appears here via a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.)ĭo you ever feel you have more passwords than you can keep track of? It's probably more than just a feeling.

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