Installing Bitwarden in your browser, on your computer and on your phone

Bitwarden works in your browser, as a program on your computer and as an app on your phone. You log in everywhere with the same account and see the same vault everywhere. You'll use the browser extension the most: it fills in your passwords on websites.

Where do you get Bitwarden?

• Browser extension: from your browser's store (Chrome Web Store, Firefox Add-ons, Edge Add-ons) or via the download page on bitwarden.com. For Safari on the Mac, the extension comes with the program from the App Store.
• Computer: Windows, macOS and Linux, via the download page on bitwarden.com or your system's app store.
• Phone: the Bitwarden Password Manager app in the Google Play Store or the App Store.

Please note: Only install from these stores or from bitwarden.com. For a browser extension, check that Bitwarden Inc. is the developer. There are fake extensions out there that are after your passwords.

Setting up the browser extension

1. Install the extension and pin it to the toolbar (the puzzle piece in Chrome and Edge, then the pin next to Bitwarden).
2. Click the Bitwarden icon. Choose bitwarden.eu as the region and log in.
3. Open the extension's settings. Under Vault timeout, set how long it takes before your vault locks, for example 15 minutes. Under Vault timeout action, choose Lock.
4. Don't want to type your master password all the time? Turn on Unlock with PIN or Unlock with biometrics. After you restart your browser, Bitwarden will still ask for your master password by default. That's good practice.
5. Turn off password saving in your browser itself. Otherwise two managers will offer to save your password at the same time. Bitwarden can do this for you: in the autofill settings, turn on Make Bitwarden your default password manager and allow your browser's request.

Filling in on a website

1. Go to a website's login page.
2. Bitwarden shows next to the login field or on its icon how many logins belong to this website.
3. Click the icon and choose the right item. Bitwarden fills in your username and password.

Does Bitwarden suddenly fill in nothing on a site where it always used to work? Don't copy your password by hand. First take a very close look at the address in the address bar: you might be on a fake site. Read more about this in the lesson Choosing and using password managers of the Safe online course.

On your phone

1. Install the app, choose the region bitwarden.eu and log in.
2. Turn on unlocking with your fingerprint or face in the app's settings.
3. Let Bitwarden fill in passwords in other apps. On Android, turn on Bitwarden as your autofill service. On the iPhone, choose Bitwarden in your iPhone's settings under autofill for passwords and passkeys. The app helps you with this in its own settings, under autofill.

Tip: Do you also use your phone's own manager (Google or Apple)? Then turn on only Bitwarden as your autofill service. That way you know for sure where a new password is saved.