10 Ways to Make the Most of Your Password Manager

Simplify and strengthen your security.

- By Alaina Yee

Already using a password manager? Smart move—you’ve increased your security by not relying on written reminders, spreadsheets, or other insecure forms of tracking passwords. Don’t stop there, though. To fully benefit from the magic of a password manager, you should be using as many of its features as possible. When you do, strong, random passwords become an even more seamless part of your daily routine.

To help you get to that place, we’ve made a list of 10 features you should give a go (or at the very least be aware of) in a free or paid password manager. Perhaps they’re not right for you at the moment, but as life changes, they could preempt a minor headache. Haven’t yet chosen a password manager? Check out our round-ups of best free password managers (fave.co/3nT9nDq) and best paid password managers (fave. co/3lRkfRz) to see what we’ve rated highest.

These tips are easiest to implement with a cloud-based service (which is virtually every major service these days), so most people can start using them straight away. For localstorage-only password managers like KeePass, you can typically work out similar solutions with a little extra elbow grease (that is, installing plugins, manual syncing across devices, and so on).

1. USE THE PASSWORD GENERATOR