Help needed for a new user

Ask the Community Password Manager
1

Looking for help, please. I am a novice user, just started with Bitwarden, TOTALLY lost. I tried to find a tutorial but when I click on the beginner one, all I get is Enterprise, which is completely incomprehensible to me. Where can I find truly rudimentary help, like…first, click here, next, go to the little icon the looks like a box, click that, etc…not in computer speak like enter the URL or IHOP, or whatever? I have no idea what those letters are, and the help question marks are confusing to someone not in the advanced computer tech field. I can’t even find a way to post a new question, so tagged onto this old one hoping I can get pointed in the right direction. Thanks

2

Hi @Charlie - welcome!

Here are some links to get you going:

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After logging in to the Community Forum, click the “+New Topic” button in the upper right corner:

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This will open an editor at the bottom of the screen:

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In the editor, first type a topic title for your question (1), then click on the “category…” menu (2) and select “Ask the Bitwarden Community”, which will place the following boilerplate text in the text editor (3):

### Note: Your question may already be answered in the
[Bitwarden Help Center](https://bitwarden.com/help/). 
***Just a reminder*** - All Enterprise, Teams, Families,
and Premium subscribers receive **priority** support at
bitwarden.com/contact :partying_face:

Delete the boilerplate text, type your own question, then submit by clicking the blue “Create Topic” button (4).

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Before you get too far, please make sure that you have the following basics covered:

  1. Create a strong master password (password for logging in to Bitwarden), by generating a randomly constructed passphrase: Go to Bitwarden’s online password generator, change the “Type” setting from “Password” to “Passphrase”, then click the black “Copy to Clipboard” button (do not regenerate the passphrase, because this will introduce subconscious biases that can greatly reduce the strength of your passphrase).

  2. Paste the copied passphrase into a Notepad document, which you should keep open, but do not save to your computer. Type your Bitwarden login username (email address) into the same document, then print the document.

  3. Follow the step-by-step instructions available here to change your master password to the randomly generated passphrase.

  4. Log back in to the web vault using your new passphrase, then follow the step-by-step instructions available here to set up email verification for your Bitwarden login.

  5. Follow the step-by-step instructions available here to print a copy of your recovery code. You could also put a copy of the recovery code into the Notepad document with your master password and print that document again. It may be a good idea to have at least two copies of the printed master password and recovery codes, but shred any printouts that you do not plan to keep.

  6. The printout with your master password and recovery code is your emergency sheet. Store this in a secure location that only you have access to (and that you will be able to find in the future); if you have multiple copies of your emergency sheet, store them in separate locations.

  7. Keep a written copy of your master password with you (or near your computer, if your computer is in a secure location) for about a week, until you can type the master password from muscle memory.

Furthermore, make sure that you do not re-use your new master password (passphrase) for any other purposes than logging in to your Bitwarden account, and do not allow anybody else to see your master password (or to observe you while you are typing it).

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