The Google Chrome browser offers to save your passwords and autofill them during the login procedure by default. These passwords are stored on Google’s server and accessible from any device where you are logged into your Google account. The passwords are encrypted and your login credentials for the Google account work as the key. You get a separate password manager for each of your Google accounts.
Steps to View Your Passwords in Google Chrome Password Manager
The steps to view your saved passwords in the Google Password Manager are quite similar across different devices and operating systems. We’ll go through the processes for desktop computers followed by mobile devices.
View saved passwords in Google Chrome from a computer
- Launch the Chrome browser on your computer and click the three vertical dots (the Customize and Control Google Chrome button),
- Select Settings from the drop-down menu. You’ll be directed to the settings page.
- Choose Autofill and passwords from the list of options on the left.
- Select Google Password Manager
At this point, you’d be looking at a list of all the accounts for which Chrome has saved your passwords. You can click on any item on the list to view the username and password saved for it. The password would be masked with dots.
You can click on the eye icon to view the password in plain text. You can use the search passwords option to look for the credentials for a specific service by typing its name in.
Right beneath the password, you will find the Edit and Delete buttons. You can use these options to change your password or remove it.
Viewing Google Chrome saved passwords from a mobile phone
The Google Password Manager comes with a cross-device accessibility feature. That means you can access the passwords on Chrome from your Android or iOS device. Here’s how to do that.
- Open the Chrome app on your mobile device
- Tap the three vertical dots
- Go to settings
You’ll find the Password Manager option under the basics. Tap on that.
You should be looking at a list of accounts along with the usernames. You can search for a specific account by using the magnifying glass icon. Once you tap an account, you will get the password masked with dots. Use the eye icon to view them in plain text.
You can directly edit the password just by tapping on it. Use the bin icon towards the top right corner to delete it. You may have to verify your identity with your fingerprint or the device pin or pattern to view, copy, or edit the password.
Can’t access your saved passwords from your mobile device?
If your mobile device doesn’t show all the passwords you have saved while using your computer, that’s because your device is not in sync with your Google account.
Open Chrome, tap the three vertical dots and go to settings. You will find the Sync button under You and Google. Turn sync on to get access to all passwords saved in your account by the Google Chrome web browser.
What happens to passwords that you never saved?
Enter Google Password Manager on your computer and Select Settings from the left panel. Scroll down and you’ll find a list of Declined sites and apps. These are all the sites for which the passwords were not saved by Chrome.
On your mobile device, you can find the Never saved accounts simply by scrolling down your list of saved accounts.
How to export passwords from the Google Password Manager
Exporting the passwords from Chrome is a good idea, if you want to stop using the Google password manager and move to a more secure third-party password management solution. Here’s how to do it.
Use the previous steps to reach the Google Password Manager via settings. There, on the left side, you’ll see a settings option. Click on it. You will notice the Export password option with a Download file button adjacent to it. Click on the Download file button, select where you want to save the file, modify the file name if you wish (the default file name is Chrome Passwords), and click Save.
A CSV file with all your password and username combinations in plain text will be saved on your device. Delete the CSV file once you have secured the passwords in a different password manager. Passwords in plain text on your hard drive are a security risk. You can disable your Chrome Password Manager after having exported all the passwords.
How does Google Chrome Password Checkup feature work?
You will see the Checkup option when you open the Google password manager on your computer. This feature’s mobile counterpart is Check passwords- the third option from the top once you open the password manager on your mobile device.
The Checkup feature on your computer shows
- If a password is compromised
- If you have reused any password
- If you have weak passwords that need to be updated
Google compares the hashed versions of your passwords against a database of passwords stolen in data breaches. If it finds a match, you’ll get an alert from Chrome.
Is it safe to save passwords in Chrome?
The Google Chrome Password Manager has some basic security features.
- It encrypts your passwords.
- It keeps the passwords inaccessible unless you’re logged into your account
- You even have the option to set up on-device encryption so that the Google server doesn’t have your passwords in plain text.
- It creates strong passwords for you.
Saving your passwords with Chrome is definitely a better alternative to creating weak passwords and writing passwords down on a piece of paper, or simply forgetting them, however it is not safe to use any free password managers or browser-based password managers.
Why third-party password managers are better?
- Most third-party password management solutions use a master password as a key to the password vault. This master password is known only to the user; your passwords remain secure even if your email account is hacked. (Passwords in the Chrome password manager are visible in plain text to anyone who has your device while it is logged into your account.)
- Many good password managers come with a secure password-sharing feature, which is missing in Chrome.
- Password managers like Uniqkey use zero-knowledge proof for authentication, so they do not even store the hashed version of the master password in the server, thus taking password security to a whole new level.
- Some password managers let you share end-to-end encrypted notes.
So, a third-party password manager is a must for any business usage. There are a lot of options to try for personal usage too. Some password managers, like Uniqkey even let you segregate personal and professional passwords within the vault so that you have much better control over your passwords.
