Firefox Tip: How to Reset Firefox Master Password?
Mozilla Firefox’s Password saving feature is nice if used in moderation. I use this feature for all the zillion websites that require you to register but does not have our sensitive personal information. Even then, some level of protection is better than nothing when it comes to allowing your browser to store your username & password information. So, it is a very good idea to set a Master Password in Firefox.
Set Master Password
- You can do this by going to Tools -> Options -> Security in Firefox 2.0 and newer. [Tools -> Options -> Privacy -> Passwords in older versions]
- Choose ‘Remember passwords for sites’ option
- Choose ‘Use a master password’ option and enter a secure password. (Try to use mixed case and numbers and the password quality meter will give you an idea about how hard your password would be to guess.)
- Master passwords are set on a per-profile basis. So, if you use multiple profiles make sure you set one for each profile.
In the rave event that you forgot your Master Password, no worries, you can reset the password. One thing to remember about this reset is that you will lose all the saved usernames & passwords. I think it is a very good thing since anyone else who intentionally resets your Master Password would not gain access to your data. It would still be an inconvenience to lose all that stored data, so try not to forget it in the first place.
Everybody forgets stuff. This is how you reset your master password if you forget it.
Reset Master Password
- Type “chrome://pippki/content/resetpassword.xul” in your browser location bar (CTRL+L).
- Press the ‘Reset’ button.
- Now, you can go back to Tools -> Options menu to reset your Master Password.
That’s it! You can use the same trick to reset passwords in Mozilla Thunderbird as well and you can get more information here in the Mozillazine article.
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Says:
May 9th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
The thing about passwords nowadays is that you need to remember so many of them. I don’t know how expensive a retina scan or finger print device(probably there already) would be. But I am sure only that is going to save me in a few years since my memory is failing.
May 10th, 2007 at 1:35 am
Pedro.. I am in the same boat! In fact, lot of banks are starting to give a SecurID card as an extra form of security measure. Not only do you have to remember the username, password and a pin number, you have to remember where you put the damn card!
May 10th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
no kidding guys…
I cannot remember all my passwords, and my situation is worse than most being that I’m an IT guy. What does this matter? Well…I have to remember all my personal passwords along with all the passwords to access everything at work!
How do I do it? I don’t, I use a free open source program to do it for me.
Check that program out here.
May 10th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Also…this is a great tip K, especially the part about resetting the master if you happen to forget it!
Great post.
As a matter of fact, I think I just may link to it.
May 11th, 2007 at 1:50 am
Thanks Matt.. that program looks pretty cool! I am going to try to start using it..
May 15th, 2007 at 2:26 am
more firefox tips , go to http://firefoxs.xinwen666.com
May 15th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Thanks for sharing that Hawk!
May 24th, 2007 at 5:53 am
This would be in respect to Matt’s comments about an open source password manager “KeePass”.
Just in case anyone is interested; there is a portable version that you can carry around on a USB device.
http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/keepass_portable
The main link to the site is: http://portableapps.com/
PS: A whole slew of open source apps that have been made portable.
http://portableapps.com/
May 24th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Nix.. welcome to ShanKri-la! I am a big fan of portable apps and the U3 line of apps as well. I have to checkout KeePass though.
May 24th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
It’s a good program.
I’m also a big fan of the portable apps. I don’t really need them much because I have a computer everywhere I go pretty much…but if I don’t, I have the portable apps ready to go.