If you’ve ever been assigned a new password (say, to your work email or a new WiFi router), you know that these default passwords look something like this: 018ah127$32AH. Sure, that’s a very strong password that hackers are not likely to crack, but you will probably NEVER be able to remember it. With so many accounts — Instagram, Facebook, Apple ID — it’s pretty hard to keep track of it all. Using the same password for everything is not safe, and with virtual dangers like public WiFi, you need to protect yourself. Here are three tricks you can use to make sure you never forget a password again, plus a bonus hack for never forgetting your username. Yeah, we’ve all been there…
1. Use a password keeper. You don’t have to remember a single password on your phone or computer if you don’t want to — if you have a handy dandy password keeper. Password managers can be plug-ins you install on your browser that will fill in your password for you when you need to input it somewhere. If you have multiple accounts on one site, most password managers will allow you to choose the login you’d like to use. Some classics are 1Password, Dashlane 4 ($40) and Last Pass 4.0 ($12 per month). Don’t want to shell out your dollars? Several trustworthy password keepers offer free desktop-only versions, but make sure you do some research first!
2. Try an algorithm. One trick to make sure you never forget a password is not having set passwords, but a different one for each URL using the same algorithm. You used the web address to create your password. You just have to remember what your algorithm is, and it’s also important to throw in something personal so that no one else can guess what your password might be. Now we’re not the first people on the Internet to suggest this as a method, but the reason why this can be so safe is because no one knows what your rule is.
If we were to use www.brit.co as the example, here’s a possible algorithm you could use. The first number is the total number of characters between the two periods. In that case it’s B-R-I-T, so that’s “4”. Next, you reverse the first three characters in the address name in alternating caps: I-R-B. And the last three digits are from your first phone number. Based on this algorithm, your password would be: 4IrB899. Ta-da! Feel free to make up whatever kind of algorithm you like.
For www.google.com, that’d be: 6OoG899
3. Use an acronym. Mneumonics and acronyms are super helpful for getting your brain to remember something important. For example, you probably learned Roy G. Biv in Kindergarten and it’s stuck with you ’til now. You can use that same trick to create a password you’ll never forget — but is super safe too. Pick a sentence or a phrase stuck in your head like: My dog was born on July 5. Now just take the first letter from each word and (why not) let’s alternate caps, and the password becomes: MdWbOJ5
4. Bonus: Always make your email your username. A good way to never forget your USERNAME is if you always use your email, even if using an email isn’t required.
Do you have any tips and tricks for never forgetting your password? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(Photo via Getty)