Password Managing

Ever forget a password or just not have it with you? And we know it isn’t safe to be using sticky notes or leaving usernames and passwords out and about. Everything we do in this day and age calls for more logins and passwords…passwords that need to be secure and vary from site to site. What can you do? Save them digitally!

Options

Google Chrome Passwords – Ever notice how Chrome asks you if you want to save your password? These are stored within Chrome itself. If you actually log in to Chrome and see your little profile picture across from the address bar, you can have the passwords sync to the cloud, thus making them accessible on other devices you log in to and safe if anything were to happen to your computer. You can also look up the password you entered on a site in case you need to enter it on another device. (Free)

• Viewing saved passwords: When in Chrome, click the 3 dots on the upper right, choose
  
• Turning Sync on: At the top right, click the gray person icon. Click the blue button to turn sync on and log in.

Safari – This browser will also ask you if you want to save passwords. These would be stored directly on your laptop and not necessarily backed up. (Free)

• Viewing saved passwords: When in Safari, click Safari at the top left, choose Preferences, and click the tab for Passwords. Before you can see anything, it will prompt you to enter your laptop password as an extra layer of security.

iCloud Keychain – This feature available on Apple products will let you sync your passwords saved in Safari to other Apple devices. In general, it is a very basic way to back up passwords which is done through the use of your own Apple ID. (Free)

• Turning on iCloud Keychain: In the upper right, click the apple and go to System Preferences. Click into the iCloud section. You will need to be logged into iCloud for this to be an option, so log in using your personal Apple ID. Click the box to enable Keychain and follow the prompts.

LastPass – Web-based password manager. There is a free version as well as a paid option. Just create one account on the website (you will need to remember this login and password though) to be able to save all your passwords. This works across different platforms and devices. There are a variety of options to install and access LastPass on your devices to make logging in to sites easier and faster. (Free and paid versions. The free version should be sufficient.)