The Steps
IN THIS LESSON
As of October, 2024, this tutorial is new. You may run into a glitch or something that isn’t explained satisfactorily. If so, send a message through the form at the end of this tutorial, or through the Contact Form for this website.
What is a password manager?
A password manager is a secure software application that stores and manages your login credentials for websites, applications, and networks. It generates strong unique passwords for each of your accounts and keeps them encrypted in a centralized vault. With a single master password or biometric login, you can access all your passwords conveniently and securely, eliminating the need to remember multiple complex passwords.
Why Proton Pass?
Proton Pass has been proven to be one of the best password managers, with end-to-end encryption, meaning that only you (not even Proton) will be able to access your passwords. But best of all, they have a totally free password manager that will hold ALL of your passwords.
Welcome, you’ve taken an important step to get the free Proton Pass Password manager.
This page lists the steps you need to take to get your password manager running. The text pdf’s can be downloaded and printed if desired, giving you a printout to use as you walk through the steps. I’ve provided both video and text so you can use the approach that works best for you.
Don’t be intimidated by the process. It’s worth it to get all your passwords together in one spot where you can manage them. If at any time you feel overwhelmed or have questions, please use the message form at the bottom of this page to send me an email. As needed I will hold some live sessions to answer questions and will respond to you individually.
While you can use a smartphone to set up your password manager, you will have the best experience if you do these steps on a laptop or desktop computer. You won’t be able to use it to import records from a web browser or other password manager. It will work, however, if you are entering your passwords from scratch, taking them from wherever you have kept them. Also, the screen prints in the text documents are in desktop format.
Top 10 Reasons for Using a Password Manager
1. Enhanced Security: Password managers generate and store strong, unique passwords for each account, reducing the risk of unauthorized access due to weak or reused passwords.
2. Convenience: They eliminate the need to remember multiple passwords by securely storing them all in one place, accessible with a single master password.
3. Automatic Form Filling: Password managers can automatically fill in login credentials on websites and apps, saving time and reducing typing errors.
4. Cross-Device Synchronization: They synchronize your passwords across all your devices, ensuring you have access whether you're on a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
5. Secure Storage of Sensitive Information: Beyond passwords, they can securely store other sensitive data like credit card numbers, personal identification numbers, and secure notes.
6. Alerts for Security Breaches: Many password managers monitor security breaches and alert you if your credentials may have been compromised, prompting you to change passwords promptly.
7. Regular Password Updates: They can remind or even automate the process of changing passwords regularly, enhancing overall account security.
8. Two-Factor Authentication Support: Password managers often support or integrate with two-factor authentication, adding an extra layer of security to your accounts.
9. Secure Password Sharing: They allow you to share passwords securely with trusted individuals without exposing the actual password details.
10. Password Strength Assessment: Password managers provide insights into the strength of your passwords and highlight weak or duplicate ones that should be updated.
Ready to go? Time to sign up for Proton. The free version is a great starting
The following link takes you to the site to select and license the Proton Pass Password Manager.
Click on This link to open the Proton site
Signing Up for Proton Pass
When you click on the link above to open the Proton site, you’ll see this page:
Scroll down on this screen until you see the Pricing Plans screen. Click on the button to “Get Proton Free. You’ll then see the following screen to sign up with an email address and password. Don’t worry if it’s showing the prices in Euros like here. You’re getting it free, so the currency doesn’t matter. Of course, if you want to compare the free version to the paid subscription, you’re welcome to do that. I’ll talk about the features in the paid versions in case you want to compare them.
Just as a full disclosure: I am a Proton Partner. That means that if you decide to get a paid plan, I get a tiny commission. But frankly, I really don’t care if you do that or not. I am perfectly happy to see you get and use the free plan.
Enter the email address you want to associate with your Proton Pass password manager. There is an option below the email address entry field to get a new encrypted email address. For now I don’t recommend that. Enter a new password that is cryptic, but memorable. This will be the master password used to get into your password manager. Don’t use a password that you’ve used anywhere else. If, for example, if you use a password that is used on another site and that site is hacked, the hackers could now have the password that get’s them into your password manager, making all your passwords vulnerable. Also don’t use a password that is easy to guess.
Re-Enter the same password in the second password field. This step is to ensure you entered the new password correctly.
Click the “Start using Proton Pass now" button.
Complete the Captcha test, dragging the jigsaw piece into position, then click Next.
The Recovery Kit
After you create your sign-up with Proton, it will present to you a PDF document with twelve random words on it. This is a passphrase. Don’t skip over this! Since Proton is extremely secure, if you forget your login information to Proton, the only way to recover your login credentials is through this pass phrase to recover your login. You should download that PDF, print it, and save it in a place you’ll remember apart from the computer. You don’t want it on the computer because it could be used to break into your Proton Pass otherwise. Otherwise, if you forget your logon credentials to Proton, you will lose all your login records. One other thing that I do, is I create a Proton Pass record with the login credentials for Proton Pass. It may seem odd, but you will have Proton on multiple devices, and while you may be locked out, for example, on your desktop, you’ll still be able to see the credentials on a mobile version of Proton.
This is the end of the sign-up. You can watch the video they provide if you’d like. In the next step we will continue to import any passwords you have stored in web browsers or other password managers.