How to setup bitwarden on Windows

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

How to setup bitwarden on Windows

2. Windows Setup

Create a Folder

Folders are a great way to make sure you can always find vault items when you need to use them. To create a folder:

1. In the first column of the desktop app, select  Add next to Folders.
2. Give you folder a name, for example Social Media, and select  Save.

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Add a Login

Now, let's add a login to your new folder. To create a new login item:

1. In the middle column, select  Add. An Add Item panel will be displayed in the third column.
2. Choose which Type of item to create (in this case, select Login).
3. Enter the basic information for this login. For now, give the item:
   1. A Name to help you easily recognize it (for example, Twitter Account).
   2. Your Username.
   3. Your current Password (we'll replace this with a strong one soon).
4. Select the New URI button and enter the URL where you login to the account (for example, https://twitter.com/login).
5. Select a folder from the Folder dropdown. If you're following our example, choose the Social Media folder we just created!
6. Nice work! Select  Save to finish.

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Generate a Strong Password

Now that you've saved a new login, let's improve its security by replacing your password with a strong one:

1. Open a web browser and login to the account with your existing username and password. In that account, find where you can Change your password.
2. On the Change your password form, enter your Current password, which you can copy and paste from Bitwarden using the  Copy icon.
3. In Bitwarden, select  Edit on your item.
4. In the Password box, select  Generate and confirm Yes to overwrite your old password.
   
   This will replace your password with a randomly-generated strong password. Moving from Fido1234 to X@Ln@x9J@&u@5n##B can stop a would-be hacker in their tracks.
5. Select  Save.
6. Copy your new password with the  Copy icon you used earlier, and paste your new password in the New Password and Confirm New Password fields back in your web browser.
7. Once you're done, select Save in the web browser.
   
   Congratulations! Your login is now saved in Bitwarden for secure and easy use!

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Add a Second Account

Do you have multiple Bitwarden accounts, like one for personal use and one for work? The desktop app can be logged in to 5 accounts at once!

To login to a second account, select the currently logged-in account from the top-right of the desktop app and select  Add Account:

Once you log in to your second account, you can quickly swap between them from the same menu, which will also show the current status of each account's vault (locked or unlocked). If you log out of one of these accounts, it will be removed from this list.

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Next Steps

Now that you've mastered the basics, you can customize your desktop app to work exactly the way you want it to:

WindowsmacOSLinux

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Set your Preferences

To set your preferences, select File → Settings from the menu bar. You'll notice three sections; Security, Preferences, and App Settings.

Tip

Security and Preferences apply to the active account and should be set separately for each account, but App Settings apply to all accounts.

Unlock with Biometrics

One of the most popular desktop app settings is Unlock with Biometrics, which allows for seamless access using Windows Hello with PIN, Facial Recognition, or other hardware that meets Windows Hello biometric requirements. To setup biometric unlock:

Tip

Windows Users may need to install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable before Windows Hello can be turned on in Desktop Preferences.

1. Enable Windows Hello on you computer.
2. In the Security section, an Unlock with Windows Hello option will appear if Windows Hello is supported and enabled on your computer:

1. Check the Unlock with Windows Hello option to proceed. Your computer will prompt you to input your biometric.
2. Once enabled, use the Unlock with Windows Hello button on the Unlock screen to unlock your vault.

Remember; Security settings are set per-account, so if you want to enable biometric unlock for another account you'll need to go through these steps again!

Start Bitwarden Automatically

Another helpful feature is to always start Bitwarden when you boot up your computer. To enable this, navigate to the App Settings section and check the Start automatically on login checkbox.

Unlike biometrics, this setting applies globally to all logged-in accounts!

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