Bitwarden Setup and Usage Guide

Bitwarden

1. 1. Visit the Bitwarden website at https://bitwarden.com

   

2. 2. Click on View Plans and Pricing

   

3. 3. Click on Personal

   

4. 4. Click on Get Started Today

   Choose the left most option to create a free account. You can always upgrade to a paid account later

   

5. 5. Enter your email address

   

6. 6. Uncheck Get advice, announcements, and research opportunities from Bitwarden in your inbox. Unsubscribe at any time.…

   

7. 7. Click on Sign Up

   

8. 8. Click on Set a strong password…

   

9. 9. Set a very strong password THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER

   This password is essentially the keys to the kingdom; you want an extremely secure password or passphrase for this. Recommend over 20+ characters (letters, numbers, punctuation, upper & lower case); don't worry, its basically the only one you'll need to memorize from now on!

   

10. 10. Enter a hint for your master password

    Use a vague hint only you will understand that will help trigger your memory in case at some point in the future you have a brainfart

    

11. 11. Click on Create account

    

12. 12. View your account dashboard

    

13. 13. Click on Import data

    

14. 14. Click on File format (required)

    

15. 15. Click on Chrome (csv)

    

16. 16. Export your passwords from Chrome

    Navigate to chrome://password-manager/settings in your URL bar, then follow the directions in the photo to download your exported passwords

    

17. 17. Back in Bitwarden dashboard, click on Choose File

    

18. 18. Select "Chrome Passwords.csv" from file upload menu

    

19. 19. Click on Import data

    

20. 20. Click Ok to import

    Your passwords should import quickly and display in your dashboard

    

21. 21. Next let's install the Bitwarden browser extension

    Click Install browser extension in your dashboard to open the Chrome Web Store

    

22. 22. Install the Bitwarden extension

    

23. 23. Click on Settings

    

24. 24. Click on Security

    

25. 25. Click on Two-step login

    

26. 26. Click on Manage to setup your Authenticator app

    

27. 27. You'll be prompted for your master password

    Enter your master password and hit continue to setup 2factor authentication

    

28. 28. Click on Aegis if on Android

    

29. 29. Click Continue to open a new tab to download the Aegis app

    

30. 30. Alternatively if using iOS, navigate to OTP-Auth app

    Open a new tab and follow this link to the Apple appstore to download the app

    

Then go back to your tab with Bitwarden Vault

1. 31. Follow the instructions on screen to continue setting up

   Scan the QR code with your Authenticator app; it will appear in your app, click save. It will then start showing 6 digit codes along with the name for your bitwarden account.
   
   Enter that 6 digit code into Bitwarden like in the photo. If you're too slow and it changes before you can submit, thats ok! Just enter the newly generated 6 digit code

   

2. 32. Click on Turn on

   

3. 33. Now click on View recovery code

   Save these recovery codes somewhere safe, maybe written down on a piece of paper and hidden in a safe spot in your home. They're your only chance at getting back in case you get locked out.
   
   You will be prompted to enter your Master Password before viewing them

   

4. 34. Go to Prefences to change settings like Timeout: how quickly your database auto-locks

   You want to balance convenience of having it open while you're at your computer, with the security of it auto locking itself if you walk away and forget to close it

   

5. 35. Now lets manually create a new login

   Click on New in the top right corner and select Item

   

6. 36. Fill in the inputs to create a new item

   For logins, fields to fill in are:
   Name
   Username
   Password (You can generate a secure passowrd from this screen; it'll auto save it to this item, see next steps)
   URL

   

7. 37. Click on password field

   

8. 38. Click on Generate password

   

9. 39. Click on Toggle visibility to see the password it generated

   You can click generate to create a new one if you'd like

   

10. 40. Add some notes about the account

    If theres any notes you want to remember along with this account, enter them here to save them securely. This is optional

    

11. 41. Click on Save

    

12. 42. Click on the new item you created to open it

    Opening it allows you to add or modify the item

    

13. 43. You can also add more than just logins

    Items to save are Payment card information, identify info, and secure notes that arent attached to a specific login item

    

14. 44. A paid Premium feature: Emergency Access

    Setup emergency access to allow trusted contacts access to your account in case of an emergency and you're unable to get into it yourself
    
    This is a paid only feature; premium accounts are affordable though

    

15. 45. Finally, if you want to migrate to another password manager you can export everything in your Bitwarden database

    Click on Export vault in the side menu, choose a file type/format, then click export to download
    
    You'll be able to import the downloaded file to the vast majority of password managers you may want to switch to, including offline only ones like KeePassXC (KeePassDx on Android)