These are difficult times for computer security. If we do not want to end up in the clutches of hackers, it is necessary to protect our accounts properly. For this, one of the fundamental factors is to use random, unique and secure passwords, which cannot be guessed by hackers and which, if they fall into their clutches, cannot access any other site. The problem with this is that remembering all the passwords can be a complicated task. The good news is that if you use Google Chrome, you’ll soon be able to use it much better as a standalone password manager.
Currently, Chrome is capable of generating secure passwords when we register on a website, and saving them in the browser to always have them at hand. If we are logged in with a Google Account, we can even synchronize all these passwords with the cloud to always have them at hand on any device. However, as a password manager itself it leaves a bit to be desired. For example, it does not allow us to create our own entries within its database, the editing options are very limited, and we have almost no configuration options. Nor can we, for example, make notes next to the passwords that can be used, for example, to write down the recovery codes or indicate if we have 2FA enabled.
Luckily, Google will soon put an end to all this.
So you can save your passwords in Chrome
The new Chrome password manager seeks to allow users to use the browser as a complete password manager just like KeePass or LastPass, among others. With it, the first thing it does is allow us to add our own passwords by hand, something that was not possible right now. If we enter the new administrator we will find a list with all the passwords that we have saved, and a button that says “Add”. From it we can add the web and the password that we want by hand.
In addition, as we can see in the previous screenshot, we will also be able to add notes to each of the passwords, a function that users have asked Google for for a long time.
As it could not be less, this manager has a verification option that will allow us to analyze all the passwords that we have saved to see if they are safe and, in the event that one has been stolen or violated, we can remedy it from here.
Finally, in the configuration section we can find different options to configure the operation of this manager. For example, we can choose if we want to be prompted before saving a password, if we want to log in automatically, enable password encryption on the device, or import passwords from another manager. Finally, we can also see a list with the sites where we do not want to save passwords.
Activate the new experimental function
Although it shouldn’t be long before this new password manager reaches all users, for the moment we will have no choice but to wait to use it. Although we can activate it (and we are going to explain how), some of its features are not yet functional, so we will not be able to use it. Even in the Canary version of Chrome 112, this manager is not 100% finished.
To activate it, what we must do is:
- Write in the address bar: chrome://flags/#password-manager-redesign
- Enable (Enabled) the experimental function.
- Restart the browser.
And to open it, we can write in the address bar “chrome://password-manager/settings”.
