Bitwarden on USB Flashdrives

Ask the Community Password Manager
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1

I use Bitwarden on my Chromebook and wonder if I can use it on 2 USB Flashdrives so they can be password protected in order to enter each one. Thanks.

2

There is a portable version of Bitwarden Desktop (which can be run from a USB drive), but only for Windows (not ChromeOS).

But I don’t understand what you mean by “so they can be password protected in order to enter each one.”

3

I’m looking for something that will password protect my 2 usb flash drives that are used on a Chromebook.

4

From what I can tell, it is not possible to encrypt external flash drives in ChromeOS. You’d have to buy some kind of hardware-encrypted flash drive.

5

Use VeraCrypt to encrypt your flash drives. You can store the encryption password in BW.

Just note that you’ll need to have VeraCrypt installed (or install it as needed) on the PCs you want to be able to access the data on the flash drives with.

6

I don’t believe VeraCrypt is available for ChromeOS.

7

Would it suffice to encrypt the files you put on the USB rather than the whole USB? Under ChromeOS you should be able to do that by accessing Linux commands. That is not a solution if your need is regular or semi-transparent access.

8

Is there a simple way just to use Bitwarden to create a password in order to enter a USB Flash Drive? Since I’m using a Chromebook and Android phone, trying to encrypt the flash drive is way above my mentality, and I don’t have time to spend trying to learn how. Thanks for any recommendations.

9

It’s still not quite clear what you’re asking, unfortunately:

  • Are your two flash drives already encrypted drives, and you wish to use Bitwarden to store (and/or create) the passwords used for accessing/decrypting these password-protected flash drives? If so, yes, this should be possible (although you will most likely not be able to “auto-fill” the passwords; you’d have to use copy & paste or drag & drop methods).

  • Are the two flash drives just have regular (unencrypted) flash, and you wish for Bitwarden somehow to transform them into encrypted, password-protected flash drives? This is not possible, because Bitwarden is not designed for this purpose (it is strictly for storing and transferring secrets like passwords or short notes).

10

In addition - or other words - to @grb : If I understand you correctly, what you mean by “entering a USB Flash Drive with a password” is a form of encryption. Your USB Flash Drive would be encrypted in your scenario - and the password would be the “encryption key”. Something like this is of course possible - and Bitwarden could safe the password/“encryption key” as good as any other password, but Bitwarden is a password manager, and not an encryption tool.

11

Thank you. Since I’m using a Chromebook and it seems there is no easy encryption app that can be used, so I’m looking into buying a push button USB flash drive that does not need any encryption software, and it works on Chrome OS and Android phones. It’s DataShur Pro2 SECURE USB flash drive

12

Okay, glad you found something. - I’m really not familiar with Chrome OS… but one thing comes to my mind, what you may consider as well: “Cryptomator” has also an app in the Google Playstore, but I cannot report anything about it, because I use it barely on Android and more on Windows…

13

To the OP, I’m certain you can learn how to use VeraCrypt.

Once a drive is configured (encrypted) with it, all you need to do to use it is plug it in, launch VeraCrypt, select the USB stick and
‘Mount’, then paste in the encryption password that you the have stored in Bitwarden and enter your PC’s login password. Then the encrypted drive shows up in your file manager application and you can add, delete copy, paste, etc. as usual.

Then just unmount the drive when you are done with it, and eject like any other USB drive before unplugging it.

I do this regularly and it becomes second nature once you do it a few times.

14

The hardware-encrypted drives are another good option. Just make sure you have that password saved someplace (BW for the win) because after a few erroneous tries they usually self-destruct. Also, keep it charged because if the battery dies all the way they can reset.

15

Thanks for the info. To make it easy for me. I’m going to buy the hardware encrypted drives. Once set up, can I use Bitwarden to save the password? Thanks for your help.

16

Yes, you can save any kind of secret information in Bitwarden. What you will not be able to do is to auto-fill these passwords. You would have to either copy & paste, drag & drop, or manually type the USB passwords.

17

Thanks, Can you please let me know exactly how I would save the password to Bitwarden from an encrypted USB Flash Drive. I’ve never done this before. I’ve only saved passwords from websites. Thanks for the help.

18

  1. Open your Bitwarden app or browser extension; if you’re using the browser extension, also click on the “Vault” :lock: icon at the bottom.

  2. Create a new vault item, either by clicking + (at the top right in the browser extension, or at the bottom in the desktop app), or by selecting New > Item in the Web Vault app.

  3. Enter a Name for the vault item (e.g., Encrypted Flash Drive #1).

  4. Enter the password in the vault item’s Password field.

  5. Save the newly created vault item, by clicking Save (at the top right in the browser extension, or at the bottom in the Web Vault app), or clicking the :floppy_disk: button in the desktop app.

19

Thank you for the info.

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20

Out of curiosity, why can an encrypted USB flash drive password be saved to Bitwarden, but a non encrypted flash drive can’t have a password created and saved using Bitwarden? I’m just confused. Thanks for any help.