You may ask, "My web browser already has a built-in password manager, why do I need to install a new one?" There's actually a number of good reasons to install a password manager.
A password manager is quite the necessity these days. One of the biggest risks to your account security is reusing passwords. If you use one password for all your accounts, then someone just has to find out your password for one account and they'll be able to open all of your other accounts.
An easy way to avoid this is by using strong and unique passwords. The thing is, it's a very difficult task to remember all those passwords by yourself. That's where a password manager comes in. All you have to do is remember the password you're using for your password manager. Your password manager can generate random, strong passwords for any account, remember them for you, and log you into those websites automatically.
Web browsers have been capable of remembering passwords for a long time now and it's no secret that they have gotten more sophisticated over time. However, we still suggest skipping the built-in web browser password manager and going for a dedicated password manager.
Using your web browser's built-in password manager is definitely better than nothing. However, it's not as powerful and efficient as third-party password managers. Built-in password managers do the job, but not as good as third-party ones.
Built-in password managers can only manage your passwords on one browser whereas third-party ones are not only cross-browser, but cross-platform as well. This means that when you use a third-party password manager, it can save your passwords from any browser. You can also use them across different applications both on your computer and on your phone.
These days, some browsers have built-in password generators as well but they don't necessarily have every option that can be found in password managers such as the ability to control which characters it contains and how long the password should be.
Password managers also make it easier to share passwords. This comes really handy for accounts that you share with your family such as Netflix or Hulu. Every time you change the password, it will change for everyone else as well.
There's still a number of advantages you can get when you use a password manager. Password managers can point out weak passwords and will even let you know if a database containing your password has been leaked. They also allow you to store things other than password managers such as secure notes that you can encrypt for better security.
If this article has inspired you to switch to a password manager, it's actually pretty easy to import everything from your web browser to a new password manager! Just download a third-party password manager and it will guide you through the import process.
Some of the best third-party password managers include 1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden, and Dashlane.