Password Manager KeePass 2.45 is out: here is what is new
The developer of the password manager KeePass has released KeePass 2.45 Stable to the public on May 7, 2020. The new comes with several new features and improvements, as well as fixes for some issues.
KeePass does not support automatic updates; this means that users need to download the latest version of the password manager from the developer website and install it manually to upgrade to KeePass 2.45. The process is straightforward and all settings should carry over automatically.
KeePass 2.45
KeePass 2.45 introduces support for opening URLs in Vivaldi's and Microsoft Edge's (Chromium-based) private browsing mode. Just right click on a an entry in KeePass and select the "Open With" option to load the URL of the entry in the selected web browser. You may also notice that the entries in the menu are sorted alphabetically in the new release. Detection of Microsoft Edge has improved in the new version of KeePass as well.
KeePass' templates system has seen several improvements in the new release. Templates may be created by users of the software to prefill certain fields such as the username.
Tip: find out how to change the default password generation parameters in KeePass.
Entries that are added using templates have preset values for the username, password, and expiration date if no values are defined in the template unless the new entry is stored in the templates group.
KeePass supports master passwords to protect the database from unauthorized access (you may also use other means of protection). If a master password is set or changed, KeePass will show a warning if the master password is considered weak.
What else is new?
- New [UUID] placeholder which adds the UUID of the current entry when used.
- The UUID of the group is displayed in the group editing dialog.
- New string comparison mode "Matches regular expression".
- Enhanced configuration improvements.
- New icon recoloring.
- Auto-Type compatibility improved with VMware Horizon Client and Kaseya Live Connect.
- Performance of entry templates menu improved.
- History entries are now created when an attachment is edited directly from the main window.
- Bitwarden import improved.
- If the trigger system is disabled (using an Enforced Configuration file), most trigger controls are disabled, too.
- I/O access is raised when plugins check the existence of local database files.
- Addressed a "text cut off" issue by displaying U+FFFC characters as question marks in rich text boxes.
- Mono compatibility improvements.
- Fixed a default value type problem in the hot key configuration settings.
You can check out the entire release notes here.
Now You: Which password manager do you use, and why?
Have not yet used any password manager. One thing that’s an issue is that I would want to sync CERTAIN complex passwords with my wife’s devices automatically, such as for our small business bank account. So, if she and I both use KeePass separately, is there a way to do that?
I’ve been using my browsers’ password-storage systems, protected by a master password — out of inertia and laziness, really. I’d like to try KeePassXC, but my primary browser is Pale Moon, and Pale Moon apparently exports its passwords with headers that need to be edited in order to be properly imported into KeePassXC, so I’ve been temporizing. (Hey, I *finally* switched from NoScript to uMatrix, dumping over a decade of “NoScript training” to start over from scratch, and then I had to learn how to use AutoHotkey to remap some keys on my new laptop, so … one PITA at a time, with a generous recovery period between. ;-)
pen + paper + safe = done.
I don’t trust anything electronic to keep my passwords secure.
Post-it (LOL)
@Mario And yet you enter your passwords into websites trusting that the IT department on the other end is competent in how it handles, obfuscates, stores, compares and verifies your password. If you truly trusted nothing electronic when it comes to security and cryptography, you wouldn’t be on the internet, your entire financial portfolio would be in the physical safe with your meaningless scrap of paper, and you would be living off the grid atop a mountain.
The only problem with that is that it makes people less likely to create unique, long, and complex passwords, since they have to retrieve the paper from the safe, then read the password and type it in every time they log in to something. I like how KeePass lets you copy your password from your database (after you’ve decrypted it), and then it removes it from the clipboard after several seconds (I think the default is 15, but you can change it). That way I can create passwords that are practically impossible to crack but that are still somewhat convenient to use (I keep my password database on a flash drive that stays disconnected unless I need it).
It’s similar to the old problem of password complexity in enterprise environments- if your password policy is too complex and strict, it leads to people writing down their passwords on sticky notes or using passwords that are easy for them to remember and, thus, easy for other people to guess (childrens’/pets’ names, birthdays, etc.). So the stonger policy leads to being less secure in practice.
I think a password manager is a amazing place to stored passwords from the sites. (like facebook, Twitter and so on)
Paper is for password from bank accounts and places in which we have money (like paypal)
“Paper is for password from bank accounts and places in which we have money (like paypal)”
There’s an easy way to disprove that : how do banks themselves (and corporations, and governments) store passwords to accounts and places where they have money ? Definitely not on a piece of paper stored in an iron safe buried in the ground in the garden of the CEO. Or President. Or King.
Depends on where you keep that paper.
Keep the paper where the sun don’t shine :D
@kalmly I think that’s what he meant by ‘safe’ — i.e., as a noun, not an adjective.
IOW, a physical safe as in ‘safe deposit box.’
There are other clever ways to use just pen & paper, in combination with computer, so that it would be highly-unlikely for anyone else to crack your login/pw combos. Naturally, I’m not going to elucidate further.
@Martin Brinkmann
Please mention that it’s open-source in the title or body of the article. Thanks. :-)
This is the best password manager I have ever used. I have used it now for about 3 years and it has never let me down. It automatically backs up the database for me and I have a copy on my windows 10 pc and my android phone. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Especially since it is open source and free.