Tried a password manager for 6 months and my anxiety actually got worse

I finally gave in and got Bitwarden back in January after forgetting my work login for the 3rd time. Set up 2FA, long random passwords everywhere, the whole deal. But now I'm paranoid about that one master password. If I lose it or get locked out, I'm toast. Plus my bank locked my account because I logged in from a different IP using the autofill. Anyone else feel less secure with all these layers?

3 comments

3 Comments

scott.jana2d ago

Whoa, I gotta push back hard on this one (sorry @mary_martin22 but I'm on the other side here). Password managers are literally the only thing keeping my accounts from being totally wrecked by data breaches every other week. That sticky note under your keyboard is honestly the exact same risk as using the same password everywhere, just in a different format. The master password thing is real, sure, but that's why you write it down on paper and lock it in a fireproof safe or give a copy to a trusted family member (not on your monitor, come on). That bank autofill issue? That's your bank being overly cautious, not the password manager's fault, and I'd rather have that than someone draining my account with a reused password from a hacked site. The anxiety isn't from the tool, it's from finally realizing how fragile our digital lives actually are, and hiding from that truth by going back to simple passwords is just pretending the problem doesn't exist.

mary_martin226d agoTop Commenter

Oh boy, you've described exactly what happened to me last year. I spent a whole week setting up a password manager and then immediately forgot the master password. Had to do the recovery process which took forever and made me feel like I just handed my digital life to a stranger. The bank thing too - my credit union flagged me for logging in from a different state even though I was just using autofill while traveling. Now I keep the master password written on a sticky note under my keyboard which completely defeats the purpose I think. I'm honestly starting to wonder if using the same mediocre password for everything was actually more peaceful.

miles2795d ago

Friend of mine did the same thing with the sticky note. He wrote the master password on a piece of tape and stuck it on his monitor. Then someone came to fix his internet and saw the whole thing.