Can I use 1password, but also Firefox's PM?

cwheeler
cwheeler
Community Member
in 1Password in the Browser

Can I use 1password, but also Firefox's PM? Will using Firefox to save my passwords generated from 1password compromise my security? I'm mostly asking for convenience.

1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided
Referrer: forum-search:Can I use 1password, but also Firefox

Comments

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    @cwheeler: It should be possible to use both 1Password and any browser's built in password management...but I'll give you a few reasons why we recommend against it:

    1. Confusion: This makes it harder to keep track of what is stored where. Did you save that login in 1Password? It's filling in the browser, but maybe that's the only place you have it. Scary.
    2. Conflict: Sometimes we run into issues where the browser's autofill interferes with trying to have 1Password login to sites. In extreme cases, it results in odd bugs that make it difficult to use the browser at all.
    3. Security: While browsers have added some security features to their autofill, they still require minimal user interaction (a bad thing, if you don't want it to fill sometimes) and there are ways around the security measures in most cases to "recover" data stored there — sometimes even remotely.

    At first blush, it seems like browser autofill is more convenient, and it is in some ways, but I count it as a convenience to have full control over my data: how its stored, how it's used, etc. And while Firefox and other browsers are an indispensable part of our digital lives, they're not really designed with robust security and password management in mind. So I feel like using a dedicated tool for something that important is best. I hope this helps. Be sure to let me know if you have any other questions! :)

  • jxpx777
    jxpx777
    1Password Alumni

    @cwheeler I wanted to follow up on Brenty's solid answer. When it comes to convenience, which you raised in your original post, I find 1Password is actually more convenient for me and my particular browsing habits than using the browser's password management or other form filling.

    For instance, if you have more than one Login for a site and navigate there with your browser, it's going to plop in whatever values it deems best from those you've saved. Usually the browser fills with the most recently used credentials, but I have seen situations where the choices were quite puzzling. If the chosen credentials are not the one I need to sign in, then I have to manually click into the field and type in my username.

    For instance, I have several Twitter Logins that I manage for myself, various groups and non-profits, etc. It's fairly common to find yourself with several Logins for a site you use fairly frequently. With 1Password, I simply press Command-\. 1Password shows me a list of Logins and I can choose which one to fill. If I fill my main Twitter Login the most often, I can mark it as a favorite to make sure it bubbles to the top of the list. Or, if I almost never sign in to a particular account, I can edit that Login and set its Display attribute to Never. This way, it will never be shown in my normal browsing, but if I need to sign in, I can use open and fill from the main 1Password application. This allows me to keep the list of Logins offered to me in my normal browsing lean and mean but without sacrificing the convenience of 1Password's filling when I do need to sign in to that account.

    Speaking of open and fill, this is a great feature that is really convenient once you start using it. Rather than navigating to a sign in page and then filling, you can treat 1Password as a sort of bookmarks repository. Search in 1Password mini and when you find the Login you want to open, press return. 1Password will tell your browser to open that Login's website and attempt to fill. This works best for sites that have dedicated sign in pages, but the good news is that this is quite common. Be sure to set your Logins' website fields to the sign in page URL and then open and fill is lightning fast and convenient.

    I hope that helps. Let us know if you have any other questions!

    --
    Jamie Phelps
    Code Wrangler @ AgileBits
    Fort Worth, Texas

This discussion has been closed.