How to Use LastPass

Many people reuse or use insecure passwords for multiple accounts so they won’t have trouble remembering them. Unfortunately, reusing a password increases the chance of a security breach across different online platforms.

The easiest way to protect your accounts online is to create unique passwords for each one. However, it’s difficult to remember different credentials, especially if you have multiple essential accounts. 

That’s where password managers like LastPass come in. These services store your credentials and sign you automatically to websites, so you won’t have to remember your passwords.

Read on, and we’ll show you how to use the LastPass password manager on your computer.

What Is LastPass?

Like most password management apps, LastPass can help you manage, store, and secure the login information for your accounts online. As long as you have your master password, you can easily access your accounts on any device.

Aside from storing your sign-in credentials in a secure vault, the app can also generate a strong password for your accounts. You can also use their two-factor authentication option to protect your accounts further.

LastPass Free vs LastPass Premium

Before teaching you how to use LastPass, know that there are two options when signing up for a personal account: the free version or the premium subscription with added features.

The LastPass Free version provides users with password security features like a secure password vault with unlimited storage, automatic device sync, and multi-factor authentication. However, this version can only support one device type, meaning you can only use it on computers or phones.

On the other hand, getting a premium subscription gives you everything the free version has while having more useful features like multi-device support, unlimited shared folders, and a family manager dashboard.

Whichever the case, you can start the free 30-day premium trial after registering your LastPass account to check out the app’s features.

How to Create a LastPass Password Manager Account

To use LastPass, you need a password manager account with a master password to store your information on the app. You can register from their website on your phone or computer.

1. Open your preferred web browser and visit the LastPass website.
2. Click the “Get LastPass Free” button on the upper right.
3. Enter your email address and a strong master password on the registration form
4. Click “Sign Up – It’s Free” to finish creating your account.

When deciding on your LastPass credentials, make sure to create a strong master password to protect your sensitive data.

How to Install LastPass

After creating an account on LastPass, you need the browser extension to manage your passwords on your desktop. On the other hand, you can download the LastPass mobile app on your Android or iOS device.

If you missed the install button after registering on your browser, here’s a tutorial to get the LastPass extension for Google Chrome.

1. Visit the LastPass download page on your Google Chrome browser.
2. Browse the supported browser extensions and click the Download button on the right of “LastPass for Chrome” to open the web store.
3. Click the “Add to Chrome” option and select “Add extension” on the pop-up window. Wait for the download and installation to finish.
4. Click the Extensions icon on your browser and select the LastPass plugin from the menu.
5. Sign in to your account with your email and master password.

Aside from Google Chrome, you can download LastPass on other supported browsers like Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Safari, and Opera.

On the other hand, you can visit the App Store (iOS) or Google Play store (Android) to download LastPass on a mobile device. After installing the mobile app and signing in to your account with the LastPass password, give access to all the permissions required to auto-fill your passwords.

How to Save Passwords on Your LastPass Account

There are a couple of ways to add your sign-in credentials on LastPass. I’ll cover all the methods to organize and save your passwords on the app.

Saving Credentials After Signing in to a Website

After signing in to a website, you’ll see a pop-up window from the LastPass browser extension asking you to save your credentials. Click the “Add password” button to save credentials to the vault.

Saving Credentials on Account Creation Pages

When signing up for a website, you need to fill up your account details on a registration page. If there are password or email fields within the page, you’ll see a LastPass icon that you can click to save information to the password vault.

Adding passwords and account information manually

Aside from saving account credentials during account creation and login, you can add them to your LastPass account directly.

1. Visit the LastPass dashboard on your browser.
2. Click the “Add Items one-by-one” button or plus icon on the page to add a new entry.
3. Choose the item type you want to save in the vault. 
4. Fill out the item information, such as the website URL, name, username, and password.
5. Click Save to apply the changes.

Importing Passwords From a Browser

If you want to store numerous accounts on LastPass, manually adding them can take a lot of time. Thankfully, there’s an option to import passwords to save them all in one go.

1. Visit the LastPass vault and sign in to your account.
2. Click the “Import many passwords at once to LastPass” button. Alternatively, click “Advanced Options” from the sidebar and select Import.
3. Choose the browser or password manager where you last stored your credentials.
4. Follow the app’s instructions to export your password from a browser or your old password manager.
5. Upload the credentials file from your device.
6. Check the uploaded information, make some changes if necessary, and click the “Import all” button to load your credentials to LastPass.

After adding your accounts to the LastPass vault, you can easily access them on any device where you have the app. As long as you have the master password, you can sync your accounts on your phone or computer.

How to Use the Password Generator on LastPass

Although having different passwords for your accounts is desirable for security, creating and remembering them all is difficult. As such, people tend to use the same combination when creating passwords for multiple accounts.

With that in mind, you can use the LastPass password generator to create strong passwords for your accounts online and store them in the vault. You don’t have to remember the passwords since you can access your accounts anywhere on LastPass with your master password.

Here’s how to generate a secure password for your online account:

1. Sign in to one of the websites you use online and navigate to the account settings page.
2. Look for the change password field and click the LastPass icon.
3. Click More options on the menu and select Generate password.
4. Select the suggestion to add it to the password field. You can also customize the generated password or generate a new one.
5. Save the changes to your online account.
6. Click the Update button on the pop-up window from LastPass.

LastPass will store all your passwords in their vault, so you don’t have to remember the information for all your online accounts. You can use the autofill feature when signing in to a website as long you save your information to the vault.

How to Manage Sign-in Credentials on LastPass

You can find all your saved accounts on LastPass when you visit their website. From there, you can manage, edit, or delete the encrypted data you stored in the vault.

Here’s how to edit your saved accounts on LastPass:

1. Open the LastPass Vault on your browser and sign in to your account.
2. Hover your mouse pointer over one of the items and click the edit icon.
3. Edit the item’s information and click Save to apply the changes.

To delete, click the trash icon while hovering over an item or on its information window. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Conclusion

Creating secure passwords and unique credentials for your online accounts increases security while reducing the risk of multiple account breaches.

With the help of LastPass, people can easily have strong passwords for their accounts without bothering to remember them all. There’s no need to settle for weak passwords when you have a password management tool.

The app will automatically fill up credentials for a website, giving you access to your account without a problem.