How to remember all your passwords AKA a user’s guide to LastPass

TechOnline Biz

Dec 21

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links to products or services that I recommend. I may receive a commission should you sign up through my link (but at no additional cost to you). I only suggest products and services that I wholeheartedly support and believe in and have either used myself or have used on behalf of a private client.

Keep forgetting your passwords? Or do you have them saved in a handy (yet insecure) note on your device? If you want a safe and secure way to keep your logins and passwords organised so you can manage your business (and life) better, then you’ll want to try out LastPass. I’m gonna show you how to use it so you never have to click that “reset password” button again.

How to remember all your passwords AKA a users guide to LastPass

LastPass is my lifesaver. I have so many logins and passwords that I’ve accumulated over my years in business that it’s impossible to keep track of them.

Back when I worked as a virtual assistant, I had clients who kept their passwords in a Google Doc, or worse, in a notebook on their desk. Then when I had to access their platforms to support them with tech projects they sent me their logins via Facebook messenger 🤦‍♀️

This is no way to treat this precious information! You have a password for a reason - to keep your data and information safe. It’s no good sharing sensitive information via apps and messenger which can easily be hacked or seen by others.

So what’s a girl to do to keep logins and passwords safe… and how do you remember them all without continually having to click the “forgot password” link and reset it???

LastPass is my answer. There are plenty of other tools online that manage passwords like DashLane, 1Password or Keeper but I have no experience with them… and since I started using LastPass I’ve never considered switching.

One of the best things about LastPass is that the free account has so many features you might not need to upgrade to a paid account. I only use the free account, so this guide will show you what you can do with the free version.

So, let’s get started on my guide to using LastPass for your online business. Watch the video below or scroll to read the instructions.

How to set up LastPass

STEP 1: First you’ll need to sign up for an account. Go to lastpass.com and click the red button that says Get LastPass free.

Enter your details to sign up and choose one password that you will always remember. This is the last password you’ll ever need to remember (hence the name of the tool).

STEP 2: Add the LastPass Chrome extension to your browser by going the the Google Chrome web store here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions

STEP 3: Access the new extension via your navigation bar and sign in to your new account. Now you’re all set to start adding your logins and passwords.

How to add logins to your LastPass account

METHOD 1: Go to a website that you have a login for and sign in. Once you sign in, a prompt will appear in the top right hand corner asking if you’d like to save the password. Just click ADD and your login information will be saved.

METHOD 2: Launch the LastPass vault from your chrome extension. Once you’re in you’ll see a red + button at the bottom of your screen. Click that and a box will open with a choice of actions. Choose Password and another box will appear for you to add the details of the site you wish to save.

Add the relevant information and press save.

You can choose to add your password record to a folder in your account to keep your LastPass organised. You can create new folders by going back to the main dashboard, hovering your mouse cursor over the red + button again and selecting Add New Folder.

Using LastPass

METHOD 1: To use LastPass you can go to the website you want to login to, and in the login fields you’ll see a little icon. You can press that and it will reveal the records it has saved from that site. Select the one you want (because you may have multiple accounts) and LastPass will autofill the fields and you can then login.

METHOD 2: Alternatively you can click the extension icon in your navigation bar, use the search box to find your website and login you want to use and click it. You will automatically be taken to the site with your login in details pre-filled.

How to share LastPass

Now you have your passwords saved, you can then use LastPass to share your records with team members so you don’t have to send sensitive information via unsecure channels. Also, you have the option to keep your passwords safe and unseen to your team member by only giving them access to the record so they can use it to login but will never see the password themselves.

To share a record, you’ll need to make sure your team member has a LastPass account (if they don’t have one, share this blog post with them so they can set one up).

Once they’ve created their account you’ll need to know the email address they used.

Go to the record in your list that you want to share and click the spanner (wrench) icon.
At the foot of the record you’ll see a small icon shaped like a person – click that.

Enter your team member’s email address and then hit the Share button. You can choose to show the password if you like, but I prefer to keep this secure and leave it unchecked.