Rubenking The Best Password Managers of 2018 Still using your kid's birthday as your universal password? You're heading toward trouble. With the help of a password manager, you can have a unique and strong password for every secure website.

We've evaluated two dozen to help you choose. Everyone Needs a Password Manager How many online accounts do you have? Do you remember a hundred different, strong passwords, or do you use the same simple password for all of them? Hackers routinely cross a list of weak passwords with a list of, say, PayPal accounts, trolling for matches.

If they crack your account, you could lose big money. Worse, if you used that same password for other accounts, the hackers could take control of your email, social media, and financial accounts. Using a unique, strong password for every site is essential, and the only way to do it is to enlist the help of a password manager. We've evaluated dozens of password managers to help you choose the one that suits you best. All of the products in the chart above earned at least 3.5 stars, and all of them cost money (though you can use some of them for free if you accept certain limitations). If you don't want to spend money and don't want limitations, don't worry. We've rounded up in a separate article.

Password generator Password generator The manytools.org password generator allows you to create random passwords that are highly secure and extremely difficult to crack or guess due to an optional combination of lower and upper case letters, numbers and punctuation symbols. This page allows you to generate random passwords using true randomness, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random number algorithms typically used in.

Most of the free tools lack the most advanced features, but they get the job done. Whether free or paid, a password manager is something everybody needs.

The Password Basics The typical password manager installs as a browser plug-in to handle password capture and replay. Auto Macro Recorder 3.0 2017 - Full Version. When you log in to a secure site, it offers to save your credentials. When you return to that site, it offers to automatically fill in those credentials. And, if you've saved multiple logins for the same site, the password manager offers you multiple account login options. Most also offer a browser toolbar menu of saved logins, so you can go straight to a saved site and log in automatically. Some products detect password-change events and offer to update the existing record.

Some even record your credentials during the process of signing up for a new secure website. On the flip side, a password manager that doesn't include password capture and replay automation needs to offset that lack with significant other assets.

Getting all of your existing passwords into the password manager is a good first step. Next, you need to identify the weak and duplicate passwords and replace them with tough ones. Many password managers flag weak and duplicate passwords, and some offer help with the update process. The very best ones can automate the password-change process for you. When you create a new secure account or update a weak password, you don't want to strain your brain trying to come up with something strong and unique.

You don't have to remember it. All but one of our top-rated products include a built-in password generator. Make sure your generated passwords are at least 16 characters long; all too many products default to a shorter length. Entering a password like @2a&AY8mePu8HU@H on your smartphone's tiny keyboard can be tough. Fortunately, almost all of our top password managers can sync across all of your Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices. A few even let you authenticate on iOS or Android with your fingerprint or face rather than typing the master password. Most include some form of two-factor authentication, be it biometric, SMS-based, Google Authenticator, or something else entirely.

Fill Forms Automatically Since most password managers can auto-fill stored credentials, it's just a small step for them to automatically fill in personal data on Web forms—first and last name, email address, phone number, and so on. Most of the top-rated products include a Web form-filling component.

The breadth and flexibility of their personal data collections vary, as does their accuracy when matching Web form fields with their stored items. Even if they miss a field or two, the ones they do fill are ones you don't have to type. Think about how many sites you go to that want all the same information; this feature is a huge time-saver.