• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: Store your passwords
• Part 3: Now on your phone

Normally I start every post with a small introduction. This one I want to keep as short as possible so I’ll just say this: It’s 2021. You need a password manager.

Let’s start from the very beginning. First, I’ll explain a few things you’ll hear often. A lot of these words can seem daunting but actually are quite simple. Then we get down to the nitty gritty.

I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS WHY DO I NEED TO DO THIS???!??!

Because there are some things that you 1) want to be able to do on the internet but 2) don’t want other people to be able do (at least not without you knowing).

You don’t want other people to move money from your bank account. Or buy things with your credit card. You get the idea.

But but but I already have a password!

Yes, you do. But there are some problems.

If you’re, well, human, you can remember some things but not many and not very well (read this if you don’t believe me). And it’s 2021, if you don’t live under a rock you have at the very least 10-20 accounts in different services, like your bank, your email etc etc. Try to count them and write in the comments how many you found 😊

The other problem is: criminals steal data from these services. A lot. Like, in the billions. Estee Lauder had a breach on February 2020 where 440 million records -data about people- were stolen. MGM Resorts, which you know from the casino in “Ocean’s 11”, had personal information about more than 10 million guests stolen. And these are just 2 of the around 3000 data breaches that were reported in 2020 in the US alone.

What this means is that your password will get stolen and there’s nothing you can do about it. Well, almost nothing. You can and should do 3 things:

• Have a unique password per service. This way, when your H&M password is stolen, it cannot be used to pay from your PayPal.

• Use random passwords. For crying out loud, do not use your phone number. You think that adding a few letters here and there makes it safe. It does not. A computer with a program you can download for free can crack your “safe” password in like an hour. The password must be long and random, something like g5D9C467YxeEfAmqL. You get the idea.

• Use 2-factor authentication. Since this post is already long, I’ll get to this in a later one.

What does “authentication” mean? And what are these “credentials” I keep hearing about?

Credentials just means whatever you need to give to a service, like a web site, so that it checks it’s really you. Some of it is secret, some of it is not. Usually it’s a username and a password but it might be more, like your fingerprint or a code that you receive in your phone.

Authentication is just the process that checks the credentials and lets you in (or not).

What’s a password manager?

It’s a program that stores your credentials and helps you use them. Because your passwords must be long, it’s tedious to have to type them yourself. So the password manager for example can auto-fill them, or you can copy-paste them, in your e-banking web site.

Ok, ok, I’ll do it, but which one should I use?

There are many good password managers you can use like 1Password, LastPass, Devolutions, NordPass and others. Here I’ll use my favourite one which is Bitwarden, because it’s arguably the best free one and in my humble opinion the easiest to use.

Obviously this is just one way to do it; it works and it’s secure, but of course you can change things, for example use a different program. The main things to consider if you decide to use another one is:

• It should have both a computer as well as a smartphone application.
• It should be able to synchronize your credentials between them.
• It should be as simple to use as possible.

And how much time will it take?

Realistically, assuming you’re an average computer and smartphone user, for 5-10 web sites you’ll need around a couple of hours from start to finish. Obviously if you have dozens it will take more -not proportionally- but it’s also worth more. If you get stuck, write me in the comments and I’ll do my best to help.

UPDATE: some friends suggested that instead of doing all your sites at once, it makes the effort more manageable to do the most important ones first -e-banking, email etc. The rest you can do when you come across them in everyday use.

Now I’ll explain how you do it in your computer and smartphone. Ready, set, go!

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Store your passwords
Part 3: Now on your phone

We’ll start from your computer because usually it’s easier to create the account there. Then we’ll continue to your smartphone. But the very first thing you need to do is grab a piece of old fashioned paper.

Step 1: Write a password and a 6 digit code.

Get a paper. Yes the traditional one!

Write 20 or more random numbers and letters, both lower and capital. Something like 6xTzHx41jKQ3yg48FeR9sAb. This will be your password.

You don’t need to remember this.

In the same piece of paper write 6 random numbers. DO NOT USE ANYTHING REAL OR EVEN CLOSE TO IT LIKE YOUR BIRTHDAY OR YOUR POSTCODE OR YOUR PHONE, NOT EVEN CHANGED. This will be your unlock code.

This code will be the one and only thing you need to learn by heart.

Keep this paper safe in your desk at home but NOT in your computer -don’t take a photo of it or write it in a Word file.

Step 2: Create your Bitwarden account

On your computer, go to bitwarden.com and click “Get started”.

Fill in the form, it’s really simple. Use the password you wrote on the paper.

Step 3: Install the browser extension

Still on your computer, open your favourite browser -Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Opera, whatever- go to the bitwarden extension and install it.

Here it is for Firefox

Here for Chrome

Here for Microsoft Edge (you’re not still using Internet Explorer, are you?)

And here for Opera.

In case you’re using anything else, just google “bitwarden <browser name>” and you’ll find it.

NOTE: As you’ll see, about the only annoying thing with Bitwarden is that if you click outside of it before you save your changes, it closes and loses your input. There’s a solution for this: you can click the “Pop out” button” and then it opens as a separate window. The “Pop up” button is this one:

When the extension is installed, you’ll get the Bitwarden shield icon on the top right corner of your browser. Click it and fill in your email and password.

Once you log in you see your list of passwords. This a called your “vault”. For now, it’s obviously empty.

Click “Settings”, then “Unlock with pin”. Enter the 6 numbers you wrote on the paper and uncheck the “lock with master password…” check box.

Step 4: Store your credentials

If you’ve done so far, great job! Now it’s the time to start storing your passwords, one by one.

Click the shield icon of Bitwarden, then the plus icon on the top right corner.

Start with your email. Enter the name, username and password -the ones you have already. Add also the URL you use to access the site. Then click “Save”.

One by one, add all the sites and other services you have. This will probably take some time; my list has more than 400 entries 😊

Step 5: Try it

So all of this is supposed to help you right? Here’s how it helps you login. Say you want to log in to your email for example.

Click the shield icon of Bitwarden, click “My vault” and click the little arrow of the site. You’ll see that it takes you there.

In your email site, click “Sign in” or “Login” or whatever it has. Right click in the username or password and select Bitwarden > Auto-fill > your site name. Then click Next or Login or whatever it has.

If for whatever reason right click doesn’t find the site, there’s another way that’s not as easy but works every time. From “My vault” click the head icon to copy the username, then paste it in the site, then click the key icon to copy the password, then paste it in the site.

After doing it a few times, you’ll get the hang of it; it will feel very easy very quickly.

Step 6: Change your passwords

Until now you’ve done great, but we’re still using our old passwords. Now it’s the time to make them big and hard 😉

The exact process differs slightly for every site, obviously, but not much. In this example, I’ll use a popular e-shop, Zara UK.

Go to your profile and go to change password:

In the bitwarden “My vault” click the key icon of the site (see above) to copy the existing password. Paste it in the “Current password” box of the web site.

Then go in the bitwarden “My vault” again and click somewhere in the middle of the site name. This will open the entry. Click Edit on the top right corner.

Click the double arrow next to the password and click “yes” in the “overwrite password” question. Slide the length of the password to something over 17, click “regenerate” and then “select”.

Click “Save” to save the new password.

Now go to “My vault” again, click the key icon to copy the new password, go to the web site and paste it twice. Then click “Update password” or whatever button is there.

The first time you do it will be cumbersome, but after the first 2-3 sites, it will feel really easy.

If you’ve reached this far, congratulations 🥳🎉👏 You’ve done the hard work! The last thing to do is install the app on your smartphone so you can use it there too. Let’s go!

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Store your passwords
Part 3: Now on your phone

Here we get to the fun part -well, if not fun, certainly the easiest and most useful. I’ll give screenshots for iPhone, because that’s what I have, but for Android it’s almost the same.

Step 1: Install the Bitwarden App

Go to your App Store (or Play Store for Android), find Bitwarden and install it.

Step 2: Login

Open the app, click Log In and fill in the email and password (the one you wrote on the paper).

Go to Settings and press “Unlock with PIN code”. Enter the 6 digit number you wrote on the paper and select “No”.

We’re ready to use it!

Step 3: Use it to login to sites

Let’s try to use the browser in our smartphone to login to Zara UK. Navigate to the web site and click Login, or My Account or whatever it has:

Now switch to Bitwarden (you might need to unlock it with your 6 digit code), find the site, press the 3 dots and click Copy Username.

Switch to the browser, tap in the username box and paste the username.

Repeat the same steps for the password and click Log In.

Ta da! We’re in!

That’s all folks

This was what you have to do to get started and work with Bitwarden. It’s not an exhaustive guide, mind you, there are more to it. But it covers the most important part: securely creating, storing and using unique passwords that are impossible to guess.

I hope this works for you. If you have any questions or suggestions, I’ll be more than happy to discuss in the comments!

Have fun 😊