Bitwarden
Bitwarden is an Open Source password manager. The free version is fully featured; a paid account comes with additional storage and access to a subscription authenticator service.
Why Should I Use Bitwarden?
- It's a fully-featured free password manager.
- It is accessible as an app, a browser extension, and a webpage so you can access your passwords anywhere.
- If you want to host it yourself, you can also set it up so it's only available on a device you choose.
- You can use it to securely save notes and cards and other information as well.
- Open source software is good and people should use more open source software.
How do I Use Bitwarden?
- Go to bitwarden.com and select "create account"; select a free account to start and you can upgrade later if you'd like to.
- Create the account using your primary email address as the login name and one long (but not complicated!) password that you are certain you can remember but is not widely shared online. For tips, see How To Create A Good Password If You Are Not A Literal Computer.
- Set up your password hint with a good reminder; be sure to note any punctuation you added, for instance a comma to separate lines of a song or an exclamation point between words of a movie title.
- Verify your email account with the password manager, then set up a new password for your email. You may need a phone or access to your extant 2FA tools for this step. Create a login in the password manager, add your email address, and generate a new password, then save the entry. Go to your email account, select "security" and "change password" - enter your old password to confirm then paste your new password manager generated password into the provided text boxes, and save. Log out of your email account, then log back in with your new password. You will need to do this on all of your devices, so make sure you're using a password manager that is accessible across platforms - Bitwarden is recommended for a reason!
- Repeat the process of resetting passwords until all of them are saved in Bitwarden; you don't need to do everything all at once, but it's best to start with your primary email addresses, your banking information, and your major social media sites as soon as you can.
- You can also migrate from previous password managers by importing data to your vault.
Why do You Recommend Bitwarden?
- It is easy for non-technical people to use, which means they're more likely to use it than other password managers.
- It has an incredibly comprehensive help center; I'm confident that most motivated people will be able to help themselves learn how to use it.
- There is an active forum where you can have a lively conversation with other people who are interested in Bitwarden and open source software.
- Open source software is good and I think more people should use it.
Bonus
If you'd like to see a "recipe" on how to use Bitwarden with a long-winded story about password managers to go with it, you can do so here.