[Article] How to manage saved passwords in Microsoft Edge

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[Article] How to manage saved passwords in Microsoft Edge

Nathan Roberts (SN) 1,006 Volunteer Moderator

Applies to: Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 & 11, Microsoft Authenticator, Microsoft Wallet

Microsoft has made vast improvements to where passwords are stored and how they can be accessed across devices. Passwords used to be stored in the browsers password manager which could have been accessed via the browser’s settings. However, with more people asking for the passwords to be accessed from other apps such as the Authenticator app, Microsoft made changes so that passwords are now stored in Wallet.

Introduction to Microsoft Wallet

Your passwords are stored on the Microsoft servers (Cloud) under your account. This allows your passwords to be synchronised across all your devices once you have signed into the browser on your device. These passwords are then cached onto the local folder for Edge under AppData. Only Edge will be able to read the data in this folder, and on the server.

Wallet is built into Microsoft Edge, which you can access by typing: edge://wallet into the address bar.

This will allow you to view all your passwords, payment methods, personal info, and order tracking. For this article, we are going to be focusing on passwords and how they are stored and accessed.

How to access passwords stored in Microsoft Wallet

For those who have the Microsoft Authenticator app installed, you can access the passwords saved on all your accounts via the app. You can also access the passwords stored in the Wallet by using the Microsoft Edge browser. If you don’t have the Authenticator app, but would like to download it and use it on your phone (Android or iPhone), please follow the instructions in this article: Set up the Microsoft Authenticator app as your verification method - Microsoft Support

Using the Microsoft Edge browser

You will need to open Microsoft Edge on your PC/device. Once the browser has opened and loaded, please click onto your avatar which is in the top-left corner of the browser. It will have either “Work” or “Personal” depending on the account you are signed into on Edge.

Once you click onto this, you will see a drop-down menu appear under the user account.

You will notice that Microsoft Wallet is visible within the menu towards the top

You will see that you can view your Microsoft Rewards points along with any cashback you have gained. At the top-right of the tile, you will see three options.

The bank card icon will take you to payment methods which are stored within the browser and Microsoft Wallet. The second icon, the key, will take you to your passwords stored within Wallet. The last option, the icon of a person, will take you to your personal information that is stored within Wallet.

To access your passwords, you want to click onto the key icon, which will open the Microsoft Wallet to the passwords page.

Once you click onto this icon, a new tab will open within the browser that will show you all your passwords.

You will see an option where you can check how secure your passwords are and if any of your accounts have been leaked/compromised from other sites that have been hacked. More information on this service can be found in this article: Protect your online accounts using Password Monitor - Microsoft Support

Password security check allows you to see if you have any reused passwords or any week passwords. If you have any reused passwords or weak passwords, it will show these accounts and you will have the option to change them by taking you to the website where you can sign into your account and change your password. Under the password security check tile, you will see all the sites that you have saved your passwords.

If you click onto click onto a site you wish to view the accounts you have saved passwords for, please click onto the site.

Once you click onto the website, you will be presented with a security challenge from Windows Security. It will be asking you to enter the pin used to sign into Windows.

Once you have entered your pin/password it will allow you to advance to view your accounts used for the website you have clicked onto.

At the top, you will have the email addresses you have used to sign into the website with. These will be on individual tiles on the page so you can easily identify each account. Each tile will have the password (stared out by default) along with the website link. You also have an option to add a note about the account on the notes section. If you want to view the password, you will need to select the eye icon next to the password.

Once you click onto the eye icon, you will see the password so you can see what the password is that is saved. Be careful when doing this to ensure no one can see the password. I would avoid viewing the password on devices at organisations where they may have software that is able to view your screen and activity (software such as Imperio). You have an option to copy the password by using the copy icon on the right-hand side of the eye icon. This adds the password into your clipboard where you can paste it. You also have an option to edit or delete the account/password from Microsoft Wallet.

Once you make changes, this will synchronize between all your accounts on different devices. If you click onto edit, you can add a category for the password/account.

Once you have chosen your category, you can click done. Any changes you make to your passwords, Windows Security will ask you to enter the pin/password for your account before the changes will be saved to your Microsoft account. This is to ensure that it is you who is making changes and not someone else. If you choose to delete a password, it will not present a security challenge.

Using the Microsoft Authenticator App

If you have the Microsoft Authenticator app installed on your phone, you will be able to use Microsoft Wallet when signing into websites on your phone using a browser. When you save passwords on the Edge browser on your phone, it will save these passwords in the Wallet app within Authenticator.

You will want to open the Microsoft Authenticator app on your phone and sign into the app using your phone pin or biometric scanner. Once you are in the app, and on the main page, you will see the apps navigation menu at the bottom of the screen. You want to select the passwords button.

This will take you to all passwords that are stored on all your accounts that you have connected to the Authenticator app. You will be able to browse each site that has saved passwords and view your username and password. Just like you can in the Microsoft Edge browser. You can edit the username and password using the app, or you can choose to delete the username and password if you no longer need to use it.

How to update passwords through the Edge browser

When you update the passwords on sites when you use Microsoft Edge, you will get a box which will appear asking you if you want to update your password.

If you click onto update, it will save the new password entered over the original password for the account on that website. Once it has done this, you cannot restore the previous password it has replaced. If you use the “Suggest a strong password” option, the browser will automatically save the new password without giving this prompt. This is by design as it is not expecting you to remember the random characters and numbers it generates.

If you have any suggestions for this article, please comment them underneath in the comments section.

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[Article] How to manage saved passwords in Microsoft Edge