I am curious what experiences anyone here has with password managers and can make any recommendations
How to use them and whether I should keep a record of my regular passwords anyway or do they become obsolete? Also how to manage them across devices
LastPass
I was using Avast Passwords, but they don’t have a family version and seem to be discontinuing the product. They were also caught selling user data.
So, I switched to LastPass. It allows me to share some passwords, gives family members separate accounts and covers 6 devices: my PC, wife’s PC, shared laptop, tablet and both of our phones. They have a 30 day trial, then it’s $48/Yr. Export a copy of your password file once every few months and encrypt it or put it in your safe so you have a backup.
I would never trust a browser to store my passwords. Apple, maybe. Google? Microsoft? NFW. I would also not trust a “free” option. As they say, when something is “free”, YOU are the product.
I just let google recommend and store passwords for my phones and laptops for most sites. Except for financials which I simply write down and do not store.
Email account passwords are changed every month manually.
I used to use Dashlane, but I discovered it was inserting garbage javascript code into edit boxes on a webpage. Totally unacceptable, it’s a known problem yet they won’t fix it.
I am using Bitwarden, and I like it.
Just changed over to BitWarden from Lastpass. Had LastPass for 10 years. Bit warden is working much better.
I use Dashlane and love it.
You only need to know one master password.
It interacts with all modern browsers and automates logging into a site (with your permission). It generates strong passwords which are strings of random lower case, capitals, symbols and numbers.
If one of your online accounts gets compromised, you can tell it to automatically refresh that password for you. Or all of your passwords.
It monitors the dark web for the emails you use in accounts and alerts you if one shows up.
And it will tell you if one of your online accounts has been compromised (they watch the news for these events).
More features - highly recommended.
KeePass. Been using it forever.
I don’t trust cloud based password managers.
I keep all passwords in a journal... one page per site. Then if I want to change the password I cross off the old one and write the new one under it.
Many thanks to all the responders Very much appreciated