On many occasions we have passwords saved in our browser. What happens is that those browsers usually hide those keys behind some asterisks to make sure that others cannot see them while looking at our monitor. However, that can sometimes be tricky when we have too many passwords to remember. On some occasions, out of necessity and because they are complex, we need to see them without format to enter them manually on another device. So at some point you may want to see your passwords typed into your browser instead of asterisks. In this article, we are going to learn how to see your saved passwords in the browser instead of asterisks in Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.
Why passwords are protected in your browser
Asterisks are certainly a good way to protect your passwords in your browser from prying eyes. Sometimes we have to enter a password in a public place like a coffee shop, where no one can see our password in plain text. For example, in Linux operating systems when we enter a password we don’t even get asterisks so that no one can “count” them and see the length of the password. Of course, it is essential that if you connect to public Wi-Fi networks, we will need a VPN to keep our connection safe. We need the latter so that they cannot find out our passwords with different types of attacks that exist, and therefore, not spy on us.
On the other hand, in Windows we have a way to protect our passwords thanks to user accounts. In this aspect, it is convenient that our account has an established key to protect the passwords in your web browser. In this way, when we go to the browser passwords section, if we want to see one, it will ask us to enter the password of our Windows user account. This would be an example in which, to see a password in Google Chrome, it asks us to type the password of our Windows user account.
For this reason it is very important that our Windows user always has a password established. In this aspect, on some occasions it may be interesting to configure the Windows password policy so that it forces us to create a secure password and renew it from time to time.
Access your keys in Chrome
If you want to see the passwords in your Chrome browser, you have to go to the upper right corner. Then there you display the button with the three vertical points and click on Setting. Then, on the left side we look for the section Autocomplete and we look on the right for the section of passwords.
The only thing you have to do here is click on the eye icon to display that password without asterisks. Next, it will ask you for the password of your Windows user account and that’s it. The only thing left for us is to write down that password.
Your passwords without asterisks in Firefox
To see the passwords in your Mozilla Firefox browser you have to go to the upper right corner. Then there you display the button with the three horizontal stripes and click on Settings. Then on the left we go to the section Privacy & Security and we look on the right for the section of Users and passwords.
One difference from Chrome is that Firefox allows you to use a master password as an overlay on top of all saved passwords. This is quite a useful security feature, especially if you use a laptop that you move everywhere, it is quite an interesting additional security. On the other hand, if we want to see one in particular, we have to click on the Saved Accounts button.
Key storage in Microsoft Edge
As for viewing the passwords in your Microsoft Edge browser, you have to position yourself in the upper right corner. Then you display the button with the three horizontal points and go to Setting. Then we go to the section Profiles and look on the right for the section passwords.
Then once inside we can view our stored passwords and manage them. Simply by clicking on the eye icon we can see the password we need without asterisks. It may ask you for your Windows user password.
Finally, there is also another way to store and create secure passwords. In this regard, you can use Password Manager Lite, a free password manager for Windows.
