How can I list down website passwords for better productivity?

Question

I am an avid web surfer and I surf a lot of websites. I also have my accounts on numerous sites. The problem is when I need to sign in to some websites, I have to search my two mailboxes for username. And also sometimes its very hard to remember the email ID I used at the time of singing up. I am looking a for solution which saves my time and also organizes a list of websites.

Note: Actually I forgot to mention that it will be better if there is an app which helps in storing and generating passwords too. I don't have that much of a problem in remembering passwords. The only thing which confuses me is what emailID I used at the time of signing up and also, sometimes, what openID did I used.

Answer 1

I'd take a look at 1Password or LastPass. They allow you to securely store not just your username but also your password on all of your accounts, and automatically enter them with a keyboard shortcut or a couple clicks whenever you need them.

Answer 2

KeePass is another multi-platform, encrypted password store. It holds username, password, site name, site url, and notes. Bonus features include keyboard shortcuts for opening sites and entering username and password; generating passwords according to a provided list of rules (length, allowed characters, etc.); running fabulously off a USB flash drive; and being Free and Open Software.

Answer 3

The usual productivity approach is to gather data from hard to reach places into a single place which is easy to reach; one approach is an automated tool as mentioned in the other answer(s), another approach is to store in in a place that is easy to reach but still secure.

OneNote allows you to easily store and retrieve data in nodes, also allowing you to protect personal information with a password. Evernote also seems to support something similar like this, as you can encrypt single notes.

The bottom line of my answer is that this is also applicable to other things than user accounts, it's important to gather the same type of information together as that makes it easier to find the information you need.

But well, when you can get around with at automated solution, that's probably even a better option.

Answer 4

Having a separate password application means:

• one more place to have your information spread across
• one more app to install on every device you use
• one more app that can become incompatible with a new O/S change or upgrade
• one more app you'll probably have to pay for, once for each device when you find free versions don't do what you want.

I went down that path. I bought msecure on the Android (because it had no trial), but ditched it before the trial of the desktop version was over. Not because it wasn't any good, it just seemed redundant.

Take for example a hosted email account.

I kept the email login, password and server addresses in msecure.

But already in my notetaking app I have

• tax receipts for it
• issues I've had with it
• quirks with configuring it
• related accounts, such as aliases or catchalls
• info for its domain
• its MX records for my webhost
• important emails to it
• ...

Furthermore, to manage that email account I need different login details than to use it, so now I needed to look up that as well or have it duplicated.

So it felt silly to have to call up another app just for the password when my notetaking app can have it all there, and have the password encrypted as well.

Answer 5

After upvoting Yuji's response, I wanted to note that 1Password also has Windows and Android clients. In addition, thanks to the wonder that is Dropbox, there is a web interface into your 1Password database in the instance that you are away from your computer, smartphone, etc. You may not use it normally, but you'll be happy it's there when you absolutely need it.

I may be a fanboy of 1Password, but the database is encrypted, there are hotkeys that automatically fill your login items, and you can save and encrypt notes, receipts, other personal records and they are all available via the other clients. It is useful when travelling abroad.

You can also save some basic personal info as well as your credit card information and have it populate those fields on websites. Saving those little bits of time can be really beneficial. It also stores registration numbers for applications if you need to reinstall software or when you move to a new computer.

When we hear of databases being broken into on a regular basis, its nice to know that I can easily and quickly change my password, that it doesn't match any other password I use and I can make that 40-character password that will likely deter people from getting into your accounts.

Answer 6

Personally, I would just use the same userid/email consistently across all sites as much as possible. The sets I have over the years can be all counted on one hand, and do not require assistance to lookup.

However, you probably shouldn't do that for passwords (which you didn't mention, and is something I find surprising, as usually people have more problems remembering passwords rather than userids), unless they are fairly long (around 20 characters and longer) and are thus unlikely to succumb to bruteforce attacks. I have nothing against the use of password/key management software, but I try not to rely on such tools if I can help it, out of habit.

Answer 7

Similar recommendation to use Lastpass.com, addressing most of the security concerns. I shared more on cloud-based password management

Answer 8

I browse the web with FireFox and use the build in password manager.

http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/password-manager-remember-delete-change-passwords

You can search passwords too by start typing the url of the website.

it is build in, so no additional software is required.

Answer 9

LastPass - generates and stores usernames, passwords, etc. You can access your account from any device and if you frequent certain sites on a regular basis you can program it to log you in automatically.

Answer 10

I'd strongly discourage storing a password anywhere outside your head, because it's a very high security risk. Every time you need to remember a stored password, you'd have to access that storage location. Someone could intercept you while you access it and get access to all your passwords. E.g. packet sniff the transmission if it's an online tool, hack the password from memory, or just plain look over your shoulder.

Since you'll be accessing this multiple times, it becomes the weak link. It defeats the purpose of keeping multiple passwords.

It's better to generate your own passwords. For example, I could have a base password of muZ1312$ and then add the first and last letters of something to it. So, something like a Stack Exchange password could be muZ1312$Se, Hotmail could be muZ1312$Hl, Facebook could be muZ1312$Fk. While it's still a security weak link, people would need several of your passwords to reverse engineer it. You can always adopt a generation method that's less obvious at first glance, like multiplying a number by the length of the site's name.