Critical

Passwords

Stop reusing passwords. A password manager remembers them all — you only need to remember one.

My recommendation

Bitwarden

Free, open-source, and trusted by millions. Bitwarden stores all your passwords in an encrypted vault that only you can unlock.

Get Bitwarden Free
  1. 1

    Download Bitwarden

    Install the free app on your phone (iPhone / Android) and add the browser extension to your computer (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge).

  2. 2

    Create a free account

    Go to bitwarden.com and sign up. Your vault is encrypted end-to-end — Bitwarden cannot see your passwords even if they wanted to.

  3. 3

    Create your master password

    This is the one password you must remember. Make it long (at least 16 characters), memorable, and unique — a phrase works well, like PurpleCoffee!SunriseHike42. Write it down and store it somewhere physically safe.

  4. 4

    Start saving passwords

    Next time you log in to any website, Bitwarden will offer to save the password. Say yes. Over a few weeks, your vault will fill up naturally.

  5. 5

    Let Bitwarden generate new passwords

    When you create a new account or change a password, use Bitwarden’s built-in generator to create a strong, random password. You never need to remember it — Bitwarden fills it in automatically.

💡
Start with your most important accounts

Change your email, bank, and financial account passwords first. Use Bitwarden to generate a new strong password for each one.

⚠
Never reuse your master password

Your Bitwarden master password should be used nowhere else. If it’s ever compromised, every account in your vault is at risk.

Why password reuse is so dangerous

Most people use the same password — or small variations of it — across dozens of accounts. It feels manageable, but it creates a catastrophic single point of failure. When any one of those companies is breached (and breaches happen constantly), attackers immediately try your stolen password on every major site: Gmail, your bank, Amazon, PayPal. This is called credential stuffing, and it’s one of the most common ways accounts are taken over.

The solution isn’t to be cleverer about your passwords — it’s to stop trying to remember them at all.

How a password manager works

A password manager is an encrypted vault that stores all your passwords. You unlock the vault with one master password, and the app fills in your credentials automatically when you visit a website. Because you no longer need to remember passwords, you can use a different, completely random, unguessable password for every single account.

Bitwarden encrypts your vault locally on your device before it ever reaches their servers. This means that even if Bitwarden were hacked, the attackers would get nothing useful — just encrypted data they cannot read.

Why Bitwarden

Bitwarden is free, open-source (meaning independent security researchers can inspect the code), and has been independently audited. It works on every device and browser. The premium version costs $10/year and adds features like encrypted file storage and advanced 2FA options — but the free tier is excellent for most people.

Other good options include 1Password (paid, very polished) and Apple’s built-in Keychain (free, but Apple-only). I recommend Bitwarden because it works everywhere and costs nothing.

Further Reading