How do you fill in passwords that require you to pick 2 or 3 characters from a sequence?

sllewelyn

I have several financial site logins that spread multiple pages and end with you needing to enter a random selection of your password characters. How do I do this? I have managed two page entries OK.

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1Password Version: 4.6.0 Beta build 593
Extension Version: 4.4.3 Firefox
OS Version: Win 7
Sync Type: dropbox
Referrer: kb:ios-extension-faq, kb:win-high-dpi, ug:ios/extension, ug:ios/enable-extension, ug:ios/log-into-another-app

MikeT

Hi @sllewelyn,

I'd suggest reading my post here that answers the same question that someone asked about this.

There isn't a way for 1Password to know with high accuracy which character the site is asking for, they randomize the field names to fool criminal tools from brute forcing the system to guess the account credentials. Because we can't accurately fill, we can't support this.

The only thing you can do right now is to look at the password and grab it manually. We're working on an idea that would help speed this up by providing you with the Large Type preview, so you can see which character in which position as you can see in my other post.

sllewelyn

Hi Mike

Thanks for your suggestions and clarification. I can see that large type would help a little, especially if it were able to present this without having to invoke 1Password, finding the login, activating the large text, switch back to the browser and make the entries.

I'm sure you must be familiar with competitor products, but just in case your not; KeePass handles this with a Character Picker dialogue. Basically it pops up a box with numbered dots (hidden password characters) and you just click the requested numbered password buttons (e.g 3 & 7 & 12). The password is not displayed but the corresponding characters are entered and all is well. It takes a little setting up to be fair but works well. I've been using KeePass for years but wanted a slightly simpler tool for less techie clients and will be using 1Password as it meets this need and generally I think it compares very well.

If 1Password could come up with a similar mechanism I think it would be a good way to go and simple to use (if not set up).

Simon

MikeT

Hi @sllewelyn,

Thanks for letting me know about that. I assume they are typing the character individually, that's what our Auto-Type feature does. I imagine if you pick 3 positions and focus the first character box on the site, 1Password could do this; type the first character, press tab, type the second character, tab, and so on.

It is an interesting idea, I'll add it to our list and we'll see what we can do with that. Thanks again!

sllewelyn

H Mike,

Yes it does the autotype 1 character at a time, but you don't need to position the cursor initially or tab between fields. You just press the appropriately numbered button for that password position press OK, it entere the character and then prompts for the next and you repeat untill all required are entered and you are automatically logged in.

dlorde

I would appreciate a feature of this kind too. I use two sites that have this kind of entry - each does it slightly differently, but the Character Picker dialogue described should work with both.

MikeT

Hi guys,

@sllewelyn;

I'm not sure I understand, it sounds like you'd get 3-4 prompts to select a character, where with Auto-Type, you can just select all 3-4 in a single prompt and 1Password fills the rest for you. Maybe I didn't explain it right, let me clarify it:

1. You reach the site with the numbered password box, you focus the first password box and then you open 1Password to start the character picker
2. 1Password shows you a single dialog with the password laid out in a grid with numbers below. You select the 3-4 characters you want and press enter or click the Fill button
3. 1Password automatically starts typing the first character in the first box, tab to the second box, fill the second, and so on before pressing enter to submit it. You are not the one doing the tab/typing, 1Password is.

The reason you need to focus the box is to give the Auto-Type the starting focus, so it can fill the rest. If it is not focused, it could start typing in the address bar or somewhere else.

@lords, thanks for your vote, I'll add it to our list.

dlorde

@MikeT;

Your auto-type suggestion sounds logically equivalent to the character picker and less effort, so - yeah :)

MikeT

Great, thanks.