Manage passwords with Lastpass

Using good passwords is essential if you want to remain safe online but they are also very difficult to remember. Lastpass is an online password creation and storage service with software apps for Windows and mobile devices.

Installation is quite simple. There's a step to select language and plugins for Internet Explorer and Firefox.

This download is for 32-bit Windows, but there are also downloads for 64-bit Windows, Mac, Linux and a wide variety of mobile devices, including Android, iPhone, iPad and Windows Phone. Most of the mobile versions require a premium account.

A LastPass account is needed to use the service and this can be created during installation. An email address is required. We recommend making this password as strong as possible; if it is discovered or guessed then it will give that person access to all of your passwords. There is a link to advice on making this password as strong as possible as well as an option to allow Lastpass to find insecure data on your computer. This makes Lastpass scan passwords stored in Internet Explorer and Firefox.

You can keep yourself logged into Lastpass but this is only a good idea if no one else has access to the computer or you use a strong password to protect your user account.

When Lastpass detects that you are entering a password, it will show a message asking whether you want it to remember it. If so, another window will appear where you can select a group for the details. Sadly there is no option to create a group at this step.

The desktop shortcut launches the Lastpass website with your account details. This site can also be accessed from a browser on any computer though it will warn that the best experience is with the Lastpass software installed.

LastPass will detect the username and password fields on a website and highlight them with the Lastpass logo. A message will also appear offering to sign in with the saved details.

Keeping the passwords online is very useful because you won't find yourself without passwords when you need them.