Strong passwords and where your PC keeps them

You are about to create several accounts. Each needs a password. Weak or repeated passwords are how people lose accounts. The good news: your browser can make and remember strong passwords for you.

What makes a password strong

• Long: at least 14 characters. Length matters more than odd symbols.
• Different for every account. If one site leaks, the others stay safe.
• Not guessable: no names, birthdays, or "password123".

A good way to make one by hand: four random words with numbers between them, like maple7cloud-river42. The best way: let the browser make one.

Let the browser make and remember passwords

When you sign up somewhere in Edge, click in the password box. Edge offers a long random password in a small drop-down. Click it (the line may say Use suggested password). If nothing appears, right-click the box and click Suggest strong password. Edge saves it and fills it in next time you visit. You never need to remember it. If you are signed into Edge with your Microsoft account, the same passwords appear on your other devices too.

Chrome does the same: click in the password box and choose Use strong password. It saves to your Google account.

Where saved passwords live

In Edge: click the three dots at the top-right, click Settings, then Passwords in the list on the left (on some versions it is under Profiles or Passwords and autofill). Every saved account is listed. Click the eye next to one to see its password. Edge asks for your PC's PIN or password first; that is Windows Hello protecting the list.

In Chrome: three dots, Passwords and autofill, then Google Password Manager.

Three things that must be on paper

Your browser cannot help with the sign-ins that unlock everything else:

• Your PC's PIN and, if you have one, your Microsoft account password.
• Your email address and its password.
• Later, your Apple Account or Google account password, which the app stores use.

Write them on one sheet of paper. Keep it somewhere safe at home, not on your desk and not in a file on the PC. If you ever forget one, the paper saves you days.

Practice

1. Open Edge, click the three dots, then Settings, then Passwords.
2. Look at the list. It may be empty, which is fine.
3. Close the tab with Ctrl + W.
4. Write your paper list and put it away.