Any updates on this? Definitely a much needed feature.
@Lenik Welcome to the forum!
I notice a lot of comments saying little more than â+1â, and those few comments that include some kind of reasoning mostly just say that they want this feature because they are accustomed to such behavior from their previous password manager.
I think it would be more helpful if some of the proponents of this idea could articulate why they feature is so important to them, and explain why they canât use any of the existing options for unlocking a browser extension (or desktop app) without retyping the master password.
I just migrated from Enpass to Bitwarden because it is cheaper and our company uses it as an Enterprise Password Manager.
A few differences:
- When creating a new website account (like for this forum), the BW browser extension is not offering to create the account in BW, this works perfectly with Enpass
- And the main thing is that the BW extension is not unlocked when the Desktop App is unlocked, this is annoying. Why do you need to login twice? This has nothing to do with security because the Desktop App is already open!?
Please add both features and BW will be better and cheaper than Enpass.
Thanks and keep up the good work!
@Hawkens Welcome to the forum!
This feature exists (if you have enabled âAsk to save loginsâ in Settings > Notifications). Occasionally, it doesnât work for certain websites. There are better ways to create new accounts, though.
Transmitting sensitive information from the desktop to the browser extension (or vice versa) creates an attack surface that may lead to security vulnerabilities. Bitwardenâs design differs from that of other password managers in that Bitwardenâs browser extensions are fully independent and walled-off from any other Bitwarden apps (or even extensions running in other browsers), and therefore do not use messaging to send credentials between the Desktop app and the browser extension. Each browser extension has its own encrypted vault cache, and decrypting the local cache (to make it possible to access your vault data in the extension) requires you to unlock the extension. It doesnât matter if the Desktop app is already unlocked, because that only causes the Desktopâs cache to be decrypted, without touching the vault cache that has been stored by the extension.
On a separate note (and I mention this just because you are new to Bitwarden), most Bitwarden users do not routinely use the Desktop app. For routine use (logging in to websites and mobile apps), the Bitwarden browser extension and Bitwarden mobile apps are sufficient on their own.
Thanks for the reply.
The setting âAsk to add loginâ was/is enabled, but it still did not work, even when creating an account for this forum 
I will test this some moreâŚ
Good explaining on the encryption, I suppose I have to get used to it!
Greetz
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It doesnât work 100% on all websites. A safer (and quicker) method for creating new accounts is described here; it may take a little time to get used to, as it may seem âbackwardsâ from your current approach (i.e., it is better to create the account info in Bitwarden first, and subsequently transfer everything into the online account registration form).
I want to use windows hello.
Thatâs only possible on the desktop.
If Iâm logged in on the desktop, but the browser doesnât log in, then whats the point? I log in on the browser, and now the desktop version is no use.
@Sam_Pascoe Welcome to the forum!
This is not accurate. You can use biometrics to unlock the browser extension directly. First, you need to enable the option âAllow browser integrationâ in the settings of the desktop app, but this is a one-time requirement configuration step (for convenience, it is also recommended to enable âStart automatically on loginâ, âStart to tray iconâ, and âClose to tray iconâ for the desktop app). Then, in the browser extension, go to Settings > Account Security and enable âUnlock with Biometricsâ. You should now be able to use biometrics to unlock the browser extension.
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+1 for this! It would be incredibly helpful if Bitwardenâs browser extension could automatically stay connected to the desktop app, so logging in once covers both.
Currently, the Bitwarden extension logs out on browsers if unused for an extended time(like for a month), which disrupts my workflowâespecially when using multiple browsers.
1Password handles this well by quickly reconnecting the extension to the app without requiring a full login, making it more seamless. Implementing something similar would be a major convenience for users!
This is only the case if you have set your Vault Timeout Action to âLog Outâ, and set a Vault Timeout interval that is too short. Go to Settings > Account Security and set the Vault Timeout Action to âLockâ. In addition, adjust the vault timeout period to suit your work habits.
On the same settings page, you can also configure the extension to unlock using a PIN or using biometrics, which saves you the trouble of entering your full master password each time that you wish to unlock the browser extension.
An alternative approach, which is almost exactly what youâve asked for, is to leave the Vault Timeout Action as âLog outâ, and then check âRemember emailâ (on the first login page) and âRemember meâ (on the 2FA prompt) the next time that you log in. After you have set up the browser extension in this way, all you have to do to log back in is to click Continue on the email page, then click Log in with device on the password page; you will then be prompted in the Desktop app to approve the login, and thatâs it.
I should be more clear , âfor an extended timeâ i mean like a month or so. Then the addonâs icon would become grey/logged out.
Thanks, this seems like a great alternative as well. I really appreciate your help!
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Now that Bitwarden has ssh-agent support, this becomes even more of an issue for me. So far I could just use the browser extension, however to use my SSH keys I now need to log in twice.
Bitwarden team: can you answer whether this is on your roadmap and if so, when it roughly should land?
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Hi @grb, thanks for this tip. This is a good alternative for the request.
However, it will be good for Bitwarden to have a proper link between the desktop app and the browser extension without having to go through hoops and hurdles to enable this feature.
I would like to vote for this feature but Iâm âout of votesâ as a new user. So, leaving a comment here to show my support for this feature.
Spend a little more time on the forum reading existng posts and comments (20â30 min at most), and you will be promoted from âNew Userâ to âBasic Userâ, which allows you to vote.
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Hello,
If the windows desktop app is locked AND the browser extension is locked AND you would just like to auto-fill an entry in a browser page, you unlock the browser that first sends an unlock request to the app, and then sends an unlock request to the browser. Basically you do it twice. Sometimes the prompts are confusing or out of sync so you donât even know which one is which especially if they are not timed in succession.
The only reason I have the desktop app is for bio unlock (Windows hello)
Would not a better way be to engineer a single sign on for this. Personally on a Windows machine I think 95% of a basic retail users interaction with your product is with the browser and a web based site so they have no need for a desktop app, except for the extra features mentioned like BIO auth.
Most retail users donât even have installed apps anymore. They logon to their windows pc and use browser based cloud applications or the locally installed single sign subscription applications like M365/Google apps.
Please advise
As you are talking about the desktop app and browser extensionâŚ
⌠do you mean a functioning like this here: Login to browser extensions when logging into desktop app and vice versa ?
Reportedly, browser extensions do not have the necessary permissions to interact with the operating system at the level required to access Windows Hello, making it very unlikely that one could avoid installing desktop app when using Hello.
That said, the existing feature request @Nail1684 posted above does seem reasonably close to what you are suggesting. If you concur, let us know and we can merge your FR into that one.
Yes. Thanks. Thatâs exactly what I would like added.
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The fact that this feature isnât implemented yet, although being quite common in most other (popular) password managers is somewhat stupid.
Does anyone know about any alternative password manager that is closest to Bitwarden, that also has this feature? Iâm seriously bored of having to log into desktop app, and browser extensions seperately (especially as I often use both different browsers, and different profiles in browsers) constantly. Makes Bitwarden a hassle and annoyance.
@Marium0505 Welcome to the forum!
I donât have any idea how near or far it is - but there is some movement regarding this issue / feature:
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