Update: As of December 2016, Proton Mail has switched to a single password system as the default. The two-password mode described in this article is still available and supported, but is no longer the default.
Proton Mail uses two passwords to secure your account: login and mailbox.
Login password
![Your Login password is the first password you enter and it authenticates you and logs you into our secure system.](https://res.cloudinary.com/dbulfrlrz/images/w_280,h_266,c_scale/f_auto,q_auto/v1714648897/wp-pme/Screen-Shot-2014-09-12-at-10.08.40-PM1_3079531f8d/Screen-Shot-2014-09-12-at-10.08.40-PM1_3079531f8d.png?_i=AA)
MailBox password
![Your Mailbox password is the second password you enter and this unlocks and decrypts your encrypted messages locally.](https://res.cloudinary.com/dbulfrlrz/images/w_302,h_256,c_scale/f_auto,q_auto/v1714648889/wp-pme/Screen-Shot-2014-09-12-at-10.09.07-PM_27551c4613/Screen-Shot-2014-09-12-at-10.09.07-PM_27551c4613.png?_i=AA)