Step 1: Access Proton Pass in Your Proton Account

Proton Pass is part of your Proton subscription and lives in your Proton account dashboard.

1. Go to proton.me and sign in with your Proton Mail account
2. Click your profile icon in the top right and select Account settings
3. In the left sidebar, look for Password manager or Proton Pass (the exact label varies)
4. Click it to open Proton Pass in your browser

Your password manager is now active in the web version. The first time you open it, it will ask you to set a master password. This is the password that unlocks all your other passwords. Choose something long and memorable to you only. This is not a password you’ll type often, but it needs to be genuinely strong.

Step 2: Set Up the Browser Extension

You’ll want Proton Pass in your browser so it autofills logins and suggests passwords when you sign up for new accounts.

1. In Proton Pass (in your browser), click the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top left
2. Select Download app or Get the browser extension
3. Choose your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge)
4. Install the extension and pin it to your toolbar so it’s always visible
5. The extension will prompt you to sign in with your Proton account

Once installed, when you visit a login page, the Proton Pass extension will show up. Click it, and it will either autofill a saved password or offer to save a new one.

Step 3: Start Saving Passwords

You now have two ways to save a password into Proton Pass.

When you log in to an existing account:

1. Visit the login page for any website or service
2. Type in your username and password as usual
3. After you log in successfully, Proton Pass will prompt “Save password for [site]?”
4. Click save
5. Next time you visit that site, Proton Pass autofills it instantly

When you’re signing up for something new:

1. Go through the signup process until you reach the password field
2. Click the Proton Pass extension icon in your toolbar
3. Click Generate password
4. Proton Pass creates a random, strong password and inserts it into the field
5. A new entry is automatically saved to your vault
6. You never have to remember or even see that password again

Step 4: Organize Your Passwords (Optional)

As you accumulate passwords, Proton Pass lets you organize them into vaults. The default “Personal” vault works fine for most people. If you want to separate work accounts from personal ones, or group things by category:

1. Open Proton Pass
2. Click Create vault in the top left
3. Give it a name (e.g., “Work,” “Banking,” “Newsletter Tools”)
4. Move passwords into different vaults by opening an entry, clicking the menu, and selecting Move to vault

This is optional. A single vault works if you prefer simplicity.

Step 5: Enable Two-Factor Authentication on Your Proton Account

Your Proton account is now the key to everything. Protect it.

1. In your Proton account settings, look for Security or Two-factor authentication
2. Enable it using either an authenticator app (like Authy or Google Authenticator) or a security key
3. Save your recovery codes somewhere safe (but not in Proton Pass)

Two-factor means that even if someone steals your Proton password, they can’t get into your account without a second factor you control.

Step 6: Check the Settings (If You Want to Customize)

Proton Pass has a few optional settings worth knowing about. In the extension or web app:

• Auto-fill on page load: Whether passwords autofill automatically when you visit a login page (useful, but turned off by default for security)
• Passphrase settings: If you prefer easier-to-remember passwords instead of random ones, you can change the password generation style
• Clipboard timeout: How long a generated password stays in your clipboard before it clears (default is safe)

Leave these as defaults unless you have a specific reason to change them.

When You’re Away From Your Normal Device

If you’re on someone else’s computer and need to log in:

1. Go to proton.me and sign in to your account
2. Access your password from the web version of Proton Pass
3. Copy it and use it to log in
4. Never save your Proton password on someone else’s computer
5. Log out from their browser when you’re done

What to Do With Your Old Passwords

Once Proton Pass is working, you don’t need to update every password at once. But start with the important ones:

• Email account
• Banking and financial services
• Domain registrar and web hosting
• Any business or admin accounts

Change them one at a time. Use Proton Pass to generate a new password, update it on the service, and save it. For less critical accounts (newsletters, free services, etc.), you can keep the old password or change it when you remember. Proton Pass will let you know if any saved password shows up in a public breach.

Proton Pass Works Across Your Devices

If you use Proton on your phone as well as your computer:

1. Install the Proton app from your phone’s app store
2. Sign in with your Proton account
3. Your passwords are synced automatically across all your devices

Everything stays encrypted. Proton can see that data is there. They can’t see what’s inside it.

One Important Thing: Your Master Password

If you forget the password that opens Proton Pass itself, you can reset it through your Proton account. But if you lose access to your Proton email and recovery methods, you can’t recover your passwords. They’re encrypted too well. That’s the tradeoff: security means Proton can’t unlock it for you either.

Keep your master password safe. Write it down in a physical location only you know about if you need to. But remember it. It’s the only one that matters.