LastPass has over 10 million users, but following recent hacks in which encrypted password vaults were stolen, we expect many of them to consider switching to another password manager. outmoded.
No matter how many passwords, forms, secure notes, and other items you have in LastPass, the process for exporting and moving to another password manager is the same.
It’s not difficult either, so while the idea of changing password management might seem like a huge hassle, it really isn’t.
Not only is LastPass’s reputation damaged by recent breaches, including the revelation that hackers managed to steal user data, some encrypted and some not, but it has also hampered its free tier in 2021.
Before that, it was the obvious choice for anyone looking for a free password manager.
Now, whether you want a good free alternative or are happy to pay for a password manager, it’s time to move your credentials and we’ll tell you exactly how to do it.
And we will also show you how to import these passwords into Bitwarden. We think it’s a good choice because it’s open source, so anyone can inspect its code, which makes it trustworthy. It has a free tier that’s very similar to LastPass, allowing you to use unlimited devices and access your passwords and other data from any of your devices.
But you can also pay for it if you want the full feature set. The Premium tier costs just $10 (around £7) a year and gives you more space for storing encrypted files and additional two-factor authentication for devices like Yubikey.
Here we’re using a web browser – on Windows – because it’s the easiest way.
1. Export your LastPass credentials
The first thing to do is to export your credentials from LastPass. To do this, you will need to go to your Password Vault.
Click the shortcut in your web browser (as shown below in Chrome), then click “Open My Vault” or go to lastpass.com and log in. Both will go to the same place.
At the bottom left, click Advanced Options, then click Export. You will be prompted to enter your LastPass master password at this point, after which logins should be saved to your downloads folder with the file name lastpass_export.csv.
*** WARNING *** This is a plain text copy of your logins with all passwords displayed, along with your bank and credit cards and identities, so be sure to safely delete it after importing it into Bitwarden (or your password manager of choice). This is a valuable file that you don’t want falling into the wrong hands.
2. Store your credentials
If possible, open the file in Excel or another spreadsheet application. This is a good way to look at your credentials and edit them, rather than trying to use Notepad or a word processor, where each field is separated by commas (this is what csv means: comma separated values).
You’ll want to go through the list and do some housekeeping if you’re like us and aren’t very good at deleting duplicate logins, or deleting those that are for accounts that are long gone, or for services we no longer use.
You will probably find a few entries where the password is displayed as â$¢â$¢â$¢â$¢â$¢â$¢â$¢â$¢ or *********. This is an unfortunate LastPass bug that breaks some passwords, and you’ll either need to remember the password for this login or reset the password by going to the site’s login page and clicking “Forgot password” or similar.
For each login, you should see the website URL, email address (or username), and password, along with any ratings and the category you filed it in LastPass.
Don’t forget to save the file to update it with the changes you make
3. Create a Bitwarden account
Go to bitwarden.com and click Download in the menu at the top. Then click Create Free Account.
Enter the email address you want to use with the account, then the master password. This is the unique password you need to remember, so be sure to can remember it and that it is at least “Strong”. When you type the password, an indicator will tell you if it is weak or strong.
Check the box to confirm that you agree to the terms and conditions, then click the submit button.
You can immediately log into your account using the email address and password you just entered, and it is worth verifying the email address immediately. So click on the Send Email button, navigate to your email and click on the blue Verify Email Now button.
4. Import into Bitwarden
You can now import your tidy csv file containing all your LastPass logins into Bitwarden.
On the Bitwarden website, click Tools at the top, then Import Data.
Use the drop-down menu to select LastPass, then click the Choose File button and navigate to your saved lastpass_export.csv file.
Now click on the blue Import Data button and after a short wait you should see all your credentials appear in a list.
5. Export completed forms from LastPass
Just when you thought the job was done, there’s more to do. If you used LastPass to save form data (such as name, address, and other details that can be automatically entered into online forms), you’ll need to export that separately.
Again, open the LastPass web browser extension and click Account Options > Advanced > Export > Form Fills.
Enter your master password again and the form fill data will be saved as lastpass_formfill_export.csv.
You can verify this file the same way as credentials, then import it into Bitwarden by returning to the Bitwarden website and clicking Tools, Import Data, selecting LastPass and then browsing to the saved file: exactly the same import process. identifiers.
6. Install Bitwarden browser extensions and apps
The next task is to install the apps and extensions so that Bitwarden can enter these login credentials for websites and apps.
You can get extensions for:
- Google Chrome
- firefox
- Opera
- Microsoft Edge
- Safari
- Vivaldi
- Brave
- Tor Browser
Apps are available for Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, and Linux, which you can find in relevant app stores or on the Bitwarden website.
Here’s a how-to video that shows you how to use the browser extension.
7. Delete your LastPass account
You will want to disable or remove LastPass extensions from the web browsers you use and uninstall the app from your phone. It’s a good idea to also delete your LastPass account so that your logins are completely removed from the cloud.
To do this, log in to your account on the LastPass website, then navigate to the account deletion page. There are two options here: reset your account and delete your account. The first deletes your vault containing all logins, but keeps your account. Unless you plan to use it in the future, we recommend using the delete option.
Jim Martin / Foundry
You will be asked whether or not you remember your master password, as this changes the process if you don’t know it (you can always remove it if you forgot it).
Assuming you know it, click “yes” then enter your password. Optionally choose a reason and enter a comment.
Click Delete, then click Yes at the two prompts asking if you’re really sure, because there’s no turning back.
Once done, you will receive a message saying “Your LastPass account has been permanently deleted and all of your data has been purged from our systems.”.
You will also see instructions for removing browser extensions.
8. Change all critical passwords
The final task is the most tedious. Since hackers have managed to steal encrypted LastPass vaults, you need to change passwords for all important accounts. These will include online banking, savings accounts, pensions, and anything else that would cause you serious problems if someone else managed to gain access.
If you’ve used a strong 12-character password that adheres to current LastPass guidelines, your data shouldn’t be at huge risk as cracking the encrypted vault would take – according to LastPass “millions of years” . However, quantum computing threatens to crack the encryption much faster, it is simply recommended to update these passwords.
Unfortunately, there is no automatic way to do this. Even paid password managers that claim this often only work for a few websites.
The process for changing a password differs for each website, but in general, look under your account settings or user profile and you should see a “Change Password” option.
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