How do I customize the password generator in Windows version like I can on my Mac in 1Password 7?
In the Mac 1Password 7 app's password generator, you have the ability to:
- change to a string of characters vs words
- change the length of character strings
- change the number of digits and/or symbols in the character string
The third of these doesn't seem possible in the Windows version. It would be incredibly helpful to add for sites that allow only very specific symbols. It's really hard to get a compatible password generated when there are automatically multiple symbols in there, so I usually set it to 1 or 2 on my Mac in these situations and just regenerate until it gives me one of the symbols that is allowed by the site. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
1Password Version: 7.3.657
Extension Version: 4.7.3.90
OS Version: Windows 10
Sync Type: N/A
Comments
-
This isn't an option in 1Password for Windows at the moment, @MWoodbury91, but I have some tricks I use for those annoying sites. I switch which I prefer at times, but lately I've been generating a password several characters longer than I need it to be. Then, I go ahead and delete any disallowed symbols from the generated password. In the past, I've generated one without any symbols and added some as randomly as I could, or even gone so far as to generate a word-based password, then generate a really short password with characters, digits and symbols to replace the separators. So, for example, 1Password just generated
exorcise durable tangiblefor me, so 3 words, with space separators. I'd then generate a 4 character password (shortest allowed) and insert the generated characters, digits and symbols either at the beginning or end, or in place of the spaces. In this case, I gotC8d=so my final password might look likeCexorcise8ddurable=tangible. Yes, this does take some of the randomness out of things and ideally that wouldn't be the case, but I work with what I've got and any password restrictions necessarily reduce randomness as it is, so better to get that entropy where I can. Those more mathematically inclined might tell me I'm wrong, but I feel like my first method of generating something too long is the most random of the bunch and it's the easiest for me to boot. Ultimately any of these leave you better off than thinking up a password on your own and I count that as a win. :+1:0 -
Fair enough, I can make that work, but I really feel this is a great feature that is foolish to have been left out of Windows. Can a request to add the feature be submitted to your product team? I can't imagine it's hard to migrate the mac feature to windows.
0 -
I'd be happy to pass along the request, but I imagine our solution to this problem will have a different look to it. While it would be nice if the password generator could conform to these awful password requirements some sites have, @MWoodbury91, its core goal is to ensure a good, random, password. Unfortunately, this goal and the security posture of many sites and services, are often in conflict meaning we end up finding solutions that may not be the best – like specifying the symbol count in a password. Just like I have to work with what I've got, though, the password generator does too. We understand these restrictions are a problem and are committed to finding a way to cope with them while still doing the best we can to reach that core goal.
That might take many forms, but I'm personally a pretty big fan of how 1Password X has handled this problem. It allows numbers and certain types of symbols as the separator in word-based passwords, as well as the option to include capitalization. These sort of on/off options do a great job of coping with these requirements while keeping things random. It's still not prefect or something that will fit all scenarios, but I think it's a step in the right direction and hope we continue exploring that sort of avenue that acknowledges the sometimes less security-conscious world we live in without compromising the randomness and security of the passwords themselves. :chuffed:
0
