How To Use A Password Manager Across Multiple Devices

If you are a business owner you should be using a password manager to keep your accounts safe from being hacked. The best password managers allow you to log in across multiple devices.

The key to using a password manager across multiple devices is getting the initial setup right for all of your devices. Sign up for your password manager, then get a browser extension for your desktop and an app for your phone and tablets.

All password managers are different so in this article, we are going to walk you through how to do this using Lastpass. We use Lastpass to manage all the passwords we have access to and what we recommend to all of our small business clients to use in their business.

Quick Guide To Setup Lastpass On All Your Devices In 3 Simple Steps.

1. Create your Lastpass account – you are going to need these login credentials for the rest of the steps.
2. Add a browser extension for Lastpass to your desktop computer – Lastpass has an extension for Chrome, Safari, Edge, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera.
3. Add the Lastpass App to your smart phone and tablet. Lastpass has a app for both IOS and Android. Note: If you are using a MS Surface you are using the browser extension because its more like a computer than a tablet.

Follow the instructions after you log in and then you are all set. Now when you go to log in to a website or an app on any of these devices Lastpass will prompt you to enter your Login and Password.

But let’s back up for a minute. You may be asking yourself why do I need a password manager in the first place? Great question, let’s talk about that for a minute.

Why Do I Want To Use A Password Manager For My Business?

As a business owner, you know that you have multiple accounts: bank, credit card accounting software, email, social media. Also, tools that you use every day for your business: websites, email marketing, digital advertising, google analytics and the list goes on.

Each of these accounts should have a long unique secure password so that your business assets are safe from being hacked as much as possible. If you have done any research in the past about passwords or heard security experts talk about the right type of password you know that it should be something that is

• Not personal to you (your wife, kids, dogs names…)
• At least 10 characters or more
• Use a mix of letters, numbers and symbols. Letters should be upper and lower case
• Every one should be unique, don’t use the same password across multiple accounts.

So how do you do this while being a very busy owner? The answer is a password manager tool, like Lastpass. It’s going to make this fast and simple for you. With Lastpass you will be able to

• Securely store all your passwords safely and autologin to all your accounts
• Generate unique secure passwords while creating an account using the password generator tool.
• The password generator tool allows you to pick the length and combination of characters so that it works with the system you are creating a login for.
• Automatically stores the account and password in your vault for use on all your devices

If you want safe secure passwords that are easy to create and autologin across your devices you need a password manager like Lastpass

Audrey Kerchner-Chief Marketing Strategist INKYMA

For those that are more unsure about software setup, browser extensions and plugins let’s go through the main steps in detail

Signing Up For Lastpass: A Password Manager Across Multiple Devices

Signing up for Lastpass is easy. Go to the Last Pass Website and decide which account level you want. For a business owner, I recommend you sign up for a business account. You can store personal accounts in yours as well. The big benefits as a business owner are

• Share passwords with employees and 3rd party partners quickly
• Ensure that your employees are also on Lastpass and that they are creating secure and unique passwords for their business related accounts, like email.
• Setup and store Mulitfactor Authentication (MFA) for you and the team.
• Single sign on capabilities across all of your devices

The Chrome Browser Extension For Lastpass

Once you have set up your account, you will be prompted to add an extension to your browser. You should do this right away. If for some reason you don’t you can add the extension from the Chrome web store. Having a browser extension is what allows you to auto-login to all of your online systems and is the 1st step in having using a password manager across multiple devices.

The browser extension also automatically generates passwords for you to use when creating a new login and then adds it automatically to Lastpast. This is where the time-saving element of using a password manager across multiple devices comes in.

Here is a video that LastPass created that walks you through the login and browser extension set up for the Chrome browser.

IOS and Android Apps For Lastpass

But as business owners, we don’t only use our computers for business we also use our tablets and our phones. Many of the systems we use to run our business have apps now so that we can be mobile and still get work done. This is why you need to download the Lastpass app for your phone and tablet so that you can auto-login to your accounts.

On your phone go into your app store. Lastpass has an app for both IOS and Android so you are covered even if you have a mix of devices in your business between you, your employees, and your 3rd party partners.

Once you download the app just sign in and you are ready to go. You may have to grant access to the app on the device. Many times you are prompted to do this or you can go into the app’s settings and provide the right access so that you can log in to your apps.

This video shows what it looks like to use the autologin feature in other apps on an iPhone.

Take Using A Password Manager Across Multiple Devices To The Next Level In Your Business

Once you get your account set up and running and have become familiar with Lastpass, you should create a process where all your employees and any 3rd part partners, such as your marketing agency also use Lastpass password Manager across multiple devices.

This ensures that any systems you need them to have access to have secure passwords and are being logged into securely.

If you have to share a password, which is often the case with a marketing agency you can share the credentials through Lastpass and not through text or email. This is how accounts get hacked when passwords are shared unsecured.

Doing all your setup across all your devices 1st will eliminate the hassle of having to remember to go and do it after you have created the account.

I hope you found this article helpful in growing and securing your business. Feel free to reach out via chat if you have any questions. We are always happy to answer questions. If you want our content delivered to your inbox Sign up for our newsletter. You get great content and exclusive offers by being a member.

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