How to Transition to a Password Manager and Forget About Poor Passwords

Now let’s be completely frank – we all understand that using the same passwords or using your pet’s name + “123!” is dangerous. But memorizing different complex passwords that consist of 16 characters for each website is practically impossible. Hence, there comes password fatigue, ineffective logins, and frequent changing of passwords.

The answer doesn’t lie in developing super memory, but in obtaining a reliable program which will take care of this matter for you. Changing from one program to another may be difficult, but with an effective and simple guide it can be done easily.

1. Choose a Password Manager for Yourself
After that, let’s choose a reliable and tested service which is compatible on all your devices (smartphone, PC, tablet). The following are some examples of that service:

<> Bitwarden: It is a password manager that uses open-source technology, highly transparent and offers a great free edition.
<> 1Password: This service has a nice design and is quite user-friendly even when used in teams or families.
<> Proton Pass/Dashlane: Again, this service is safe and reliable, and has encryption as well.

Trick: Though the services provided by your browser like Google Chrome and Safari are really user-friendly, but you can still have an external service as well.

2. Select One Password That Can Never Be Cracked “Master Password”
Your master password is going to be the only password you are ever going to have to remember. As this is the password that will safeguard all the keys of your entire digital life, make sure it is highly secure:

<> It should be a Passphrase: Make a passphrase of 4-5 unrelated words (purple-bicycle-toast-mountain-run). Passphrases are easily memorable but very difficult to crack by machines.

<> Write it down on paper: Write down your master password and your emergency recovery key on a piece of paper and keep it in a safe place at home until you memorize it.

3. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
Open up the settings on your password manager and enable two-factor authentication (2FA). Pick either a security key such as YubiKey, or an authenticator app like Google Authenticator or Aegis. You will ensure that if someone ever gets hold of your master password, he will not be able to access your password vault.

4. Import Current Passwords (and Give Your Computer a Deep Clean)
There is no need for you to spend your first day manually inputting logins into the password manager:

<> Export & Import: Export logins saved by your browser/other tool into a .csv file and import it straight into your new password manager.

<> Important Point: The most important thing to do is to delete the .csv file from your computer permanently right after exporting it.

5. Change Phases at a Time: “Change as You Log In” Technique
It would be too much to change 150 passwords in a single afternoon. Change the passwords in phases as follows:

<> High-Value Passwords Come First: Spend 20 minutes changing passwords for your primary email, banking, finance, and social networking sites. Have your manager generate unique passwords for these accounts, which will be at least 20 characters long.

<> The Rest Follow After: Every time you log in to any old account, spend 15 seconds in changing the password for that site using your manager’s password generator tool. In a month’s time, most of your existing accounts will be safe.

6. Turn On Autofill and Browser Extensions
This is where the browser extension must be downloaded to the computer and mobile application to the mobile phone. Make sure you turn on the autofill function from the settings of your device. Once the feature is turned on, your password manager will automatically recognize the login fields and will verify the website that you are logging into.

Conclusion
Changing over to use of a password manager might only take a bit of setup, but the benefits are huge: increased security, no brain drain, and a stop to the frustrating process of having to reset your passwords repeatedly. Spend some time now setting up your vault.