How to Organize Your Passwords
Did you know that we are re-launching our Digital Organizing Course on August 1? It is newly updated with our best tips and tricks for digital organizing and is a great resource for step-by-step instruction in password organizing, email purging, and more!
If I had to pick one thing that has been the most helpful in my day-to-day life since becoming a professional organizer, it would be Dashlane. Dashlane is a password management application that the whole TLD team uses. Before I was hired I had never used a password manager. I had a few spreadsheets and lists to try to keep a handle on my password situation, but most of them were just phrases or addresses (oops!) that I used over and over again. Stasia shares team passwords through Dashlane but we are all instructed to set up our accounts with our personal email addresses so that we can use it for everything. It has taken so much friction out of my life!
I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's talk password organization!
Pretty much every account requires a username and a password to log in. Some of these accounts might be 10 or 15 years old at this point, and most people have hundreds of different accounts with multiple combinations of emails, usernames, and a variety of passwords. Keeping all of this in your brain is pretty much impossible – our human processors were not designed to keep track of that kind of data. Password management is easier and significantly more secure when it is outsourced to a digital tool.
A password manager offers you:
One very secure password to remember (that’s it!)
Encrypted data management
Autofilling of passwords on your computer and your mobile devices
Password security checks
Easy access on mobile & desktop
Secure Notes, IDs, and Payments
Dashlane is just one option - 1Password, bitwarden, Roboform, and mSecure are a few other well known password managers. Many people use Chrome Password Management or iCloud Keychain (recently renamed to Passwords), but I strongly recommend using a password specific service because their whole business is rooted in keeping your passwords safe and you can add many more details besides just the username and password.
Gather your passwords.
Wherever they are hiding, collect them! Make sure to check your browser's saved passwords, your notes app, and your spreadsheets. Take note of your username or email as well as the password for the different accounts.
Purge your passwords.
You only want to organize what you actually want. Review your passwords and delete any that are for accounts that you don't remember or don't matter to you. If you really need to get back in, you can reset your password for that site.
Pick your password manager and create an account.
You will likely be prompted to install a browser extension and the mobile app - both of these will make your life easier! Remember that the whole principal of a password manager is that you only have one password. But it needs to be really secure and something that you definitely won’t forget. Don’t use your birthday, address, or the names of loved ones. Come up with something that is meaningful to you but not obvious, and that includes both capitol and lowercase letters, symbols, and numbers.
Import your passwords.
There will be a few different import options depending on the password manager that you choose. Most have an option to input your usernames and passwords into a spreadsheet that you can upload - this is by far the fastest setup option. If you need to manually enter each password, that also works.
Build out your password management tool.
Remembering passwords for you is just the beginning of the functionality of a password manager. If you add the login website along with your credentials, your password manager will be able to help you log in very easily. You can create secure notes for important information that you don't want to forget, and add your credit cards for quick access. I also use my password manager to store ID information (like my driver’s license and passport information). Your password manager will also help to identify any passwords that are used across multiple accounts, and will help you generate much more secure passwords when you update them.
Get mobile.
Add the mobile application for your new password manager to your phone and enable autofill so that it can help you easily log in to all of your apps and services. You can also enable Face ID or a short PIN if you don’t want to repeatedly put in your master password!
Enjoy your more secure, more convenient life!
Gone are the days of guessing your password multiple times and getting locked out of your accounts, loosing your password notebook, and getting hacked for using your pet’s name for all of your passwords (yes, you!). Add in new accounts as you sign up to make your password management experience seamless and super secure.