What Is a Master Password?
A master password is the password used to unlock a password manager and access the information stored in its encrypted vault.
Unlike the individual passwords stored inside your vault, a master password is something you generally need to remember yourself. That makes choosing a strong master password particularly important.
If your password manager uses a master password as the primary way to unlock your vault, losing or forgetting it can also mean losing access to the credentials stored inside the vault.
Why Does the Master Password Matter?
A password manager can store dozens or even hundreds of individual passwords, but those passwords are protected by the security of the vault and the authentication used to unlock it.
A weak master password can make an otherwise well-protected vault easier to attack. A strong master password adds an important layer of protection between an unauthorized person and the information stored in your vault.
For this reason, your master password should be treated differently from an ordinary website password.
1. Make Your Master Password Long
Length is one of the most important characteristics of a strong password. Longer passwords generally provide a much larger number of possible combinations than short passwords.
Instead of focusing only on complicated characters, prioritize creating a password that is sufficiently long and difficult to guess.
A memorable passphrase made from several unrelated words can be a practical approach because it can provide substantial length while remaining easier to remember than a short, highly complicated password.
2. Consider Using a Passphrase
A passphrase is a password made from multiple words. For example, you might combine several unrelated words into a long phrase rather than relying on a single word or short password.
The words should not form an obvious sentence or contain information that someone could easily associate with you.
When creating a passphrase, avoid predictable combinations such as common sayings, song lyrics, movie quotes, or familiar phrases.
3. Use Something Unique
Your master password should not be reused anywhere else.
Avoid using the same password for your email account, social media, banking, or other services. If another website suffers a data breach and your reused password is exposed, that information could potentially be used to target your password manager as well.
Your master password should be unique to your password vault.
4. Avoid Personal Information
Do not base your master password on information that other people could discover about you.
This includes things such as:
- Your name or a family member's name
- Birthdays or other important dates
- Pet names
- Addresses or locations
- Favorite sports teams
- Common nicknames
- Hobbies or other publicly known interests
Personal information can sometimes be surprisingly easy to discover, particularly through social media and other publicly available information.
5. Avoid Common Password Patterns
Simply making a familiar password slightly more complicated does not necessarily make it strong.
For example, adding a number or symbol to the end of a commonly used word may still produce a predictable pattern.
Avoid common passwords, predictable substitutions, repeated characters, keyboard patterns, and other combinations that attackers can anticipate.
6. Don't Use a Famous Quote or Phrase
A long password is not automatically difficult to guess if it is based on something widely known.
Famous quotations, song lyrics, movie lines, book passages, and common sayings can all be predictable choices.
If you use a passphrase, choose words that are not connected by an obvious phrase or recognizable quotation.
7. Make It Memorable Without Making It Predictable
Since your master password may need to be entered manually, it can be helpful to choose something you can remember without writing it down in an easily accessible location.
A long combination of unrelated words can be easier to remember than a short password containing a confusing mixture of characters.
The goal is to find a balance between memorability and unpredictability.
Should You Add Numbers and Symbols?
Numbers, uppercase letters, and symbols can increase password complexity, but they should not be treated as a substitute for sufficient length.
A long and unpredictable password or passphrase can be stronger than a short password that simply replaces a few letters with numbers or symbols.
If you use a passphrase, adding some additional variation can be reasonable, but avoid predictable patterns that are easy to guess.
Should You Write Down Your Master Password?
This depends on your circumstances and how the password is stored.
Writing a master password on a note kept next to your computer, for example, could make it easy for someone with physical access to the area to obtain it.
If you need to make a physical backup while learning a new master password, keep it somewhere secure and separate from your computer.
Most importantly, understand how your particular password manager handles forgotten master passwords before relying on it to store important credentials.
Don't Store Your Master Password Inside Your Vault
A password manager is designed to protect the credentials stored inside it, but your master password is the credential used to unlock the vault itself.
Storing the master password as an ordinary entry inside the same vault defeats much of the purpose of keeping it separate.
Your master password should be something you know rather than something you need to retrieve from the vault you are trying to unlock.
What If You Forget Your Master Password?
Before choosing a password manager, find out what happens if you forget your master password.
Some password managers provide account-based recovery mechanisms. Others are designed so that the master password cannot be recovered by the provider or application.
With a locally stored vault, there may be no external service that can reset your master password. This can be an intentional part of the security design, but it also means that remembering the password is especially important.
How Is a Master Password Different From Your Other Passwords?
The individual passwords stored in a password manager should generally be unique and difficult to remember. The password manager can generate and store those passwords for you.
Your master password is different because you normally need to remember it yourself.
This makes a strong, memorable master password particularly useful. The password manager handles the complexity of your individual account passwords while you only need to remember the credential that protects the vault.
KeenPassword Vault
KeenPassword Vault uses a master password to protect access to your local password vault. The vault is encrypted locally using AES-256-GCM encryption.
KeenPassword Vault is designed to work entirely offline. Your vault remains on your Windows computer rather than being uploaded to a cloud service, and the application does not require an online account.
Because there is no password-recovery service, it is important to remember your master password. If you forget it, the vault cannot simply be unlocked or have its password retrieved for you.
Final Thoughts
A strong master password should be long, unique, and difficult for someone else to guess. A passphrase made from several unrelated words can be a practical way to create something both strong and memorable.
Avoid personal information, common passwords, predictable patterns, and passwords that you use anywhere else.
Most importantly, choose a password you can remember. Your password manager can take care of remembering the many unique passwords for your individual accounts, but your master password is the one credential you should be prepared to remember yourself.