How to use the Proton Pass browser extension
Proton Pass is an end-to-end encrypted open-source password manager that lets you protect your online identity. It’s part of the Proton privacy suite that includes Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Proton Drive, and Proton Calendar. In this guide, we explain how to use Proton Pass on your desktop computer.
Proton Pass is available as a web app browser extension for Firefox and Chrome. Proton Pass for Firefox also works with many Firefox-based browsers, such as LibreWolf, and Proton Pass for Chrome also works with many Chromium-based browsers, including Edge, Brave, Chromium, Opera, and Vivaldi.
- How to set up Proton Pass for web
- How to log in manually
- How to log in using autofill
- Proton Pass items
- How to add new items manually
- How to add new items using autosave
How to set up Proton Pass for web
Before using Proton Pass for web, you need to set it up as follows:
1. Sign up for Proton Pass. You can sign up for a standalone Proton Pass Free or Pass Plus plan, or you can get all the premium features of Proton Pass — and every other Proton service — with our Proton Unlimited plan.
2. Set up the Proton Pass browser extension.
Learn how to set up Proton Pass for web
3 (optional). Import your data from your previous password manager. If you’ve used a password manager before, you’ll probably want to import your saved passwords to Proton Pass.
Learn how to import to Proton Pass
You’re now ready to start using Proton Pass.
How to log in using Proton Pass
Once you save your login details to Proton Pass, you can log in to websites manually or using autofill.
How to login manually
1. Visit the login page for the website you wish to log in to.
2. Open the Proton Pass browser extension, select the correct login item, and click on the Username field. The username will be copied to your clipboard.
3. On the login page of the website, paste in the username from your clipboard.
4. Repeat this process for the password.
How to log in using autofill
1. Visit the login page for the website you wish to log in to.
2. Click either the username or password fields and select the required login from the list of logins saved for that website.
3. Both the username and password field will be autofilled.
Proton Pass items
A Proton Pass item can be a login, hide-my-email alias, credit card, secure note, or a password. Items are stored in vaults.
Learn more about vaults in Proton Pass
Login items
A login item includes your username, password, the URL of the website (or websites) the password is for, 2FA codes, and any notes you saved for that login. When you’ve finished creating an item, click Create login.
Title: By default, the title will be the URL of the website you’re visiting in the current browser tab. Click on the field to edit it.
Username: Click on the field to manually enter an email address or other username. Alternatively, click the Generate alias button to create an email alias.
Learn more about how to use an email alias in Proton Pass for desktop
Password: Click on the field to manually enter a password or click the Generate password button to let Pass create a customizable strong password for you.
2FA secret (2FA): Proton Pass can securely generate TOTP codes for websites that you have saved login details for.
Learn how to use 2FA codes in Proton Pass
Website: this field will be automatically populated with the URL of the website you’re visiting in the current browser tab. Click on the field to edit it.
Note: Click on the field to add a text note to the login item.
+ Add more: To create additional custom Text, 2FA secret (TOTP), or Hidden fields, click the + Add more button and select the type of custom field you’d like to create.
Learn more about creating custom fields in Proton Pass
Credit cards
You can add your credit card details to Proton Pass for easy access whenever you purchases something online.
These details include:
- Title of your card
- Cardholder name
- Card number
- Expiration date
- Verification number
Currently, you need to copy and paste your credit card details from Proton Pass in to online shopping portals to complete your transactions.
To edit the details of a credit card that you’ve already entered, simply select the card you want → Edit.
Other items
You can also create standalone items for aliases and notes that aren’t associated with a login item.
To edit items that have already been created, simply open the Proton Pass browser extension, select the item → Edit.
How to add new items
You can add new items manually, or you can add login and alias items using autosave.
How to add items manually
To add an item to Proton Pass manually, open the Pass browser extension, click +, and select Login, Alias, Credit Card, Note, or Password.
Depending on which item you selected, fill in the blank fields with the appropriate information.
How to add items using autosave
When you sign in to a website for which you don’t have a Proton Pass login entry, you’ll be asked if you wish to save the new login to Proton Pass.
Click Add to save the login.
When you sign up for a new service, Proton Pass will offer to autofill your default Proton email address or generate a new Proton Pass alias.
It will also offer to generate a secure password for you.
When you create the account, Proton Pass will offer to autosave these login details.