I’d like to add a +1 to this request
I think @simonfriis made some very good points about focus and UX-- the Ctrl+Shift+L shortcut is alright, but there’s very little discoverability.
Thank you for touching on this, @dangostylver.
I think you’re right that there’s a big influx of new users right now who switched from LastPass because of some controversies in pricing, freebie features and (for me) too many Android trackers (black box in black box since it’s not open source). It felt like LogMeIn got greedy.
I chose Bitwarden and became a paying customer the first day, in part because it seems like a much smaller and less corporate-minded product/business, which speaks to me. Maximizing profits at all costs does not seem to be the mantra.
I have seen some “why isn’t this fixed yet” (“my biggest problem must be everyone’s biggest problem and therefore the top priority”) and “I can’t leave LastPass until you get this”-comments around the forum and while they bring no value and are annoying I’m afraid you’ll get that with most products that grow and start to attract lots of customers. Definitely agree it’s annoying and in some cases disrespectful though, and I respect that you care about the people behind Bitwarden. I want them to succeed as well.
I think we could help them succeed better with a shared goal to simply give good input and discuss it without telling people what they think and want, and why they’re wrong. I’m a bit guilty of doing that myself in saying that, but I hope you’ll give me a chance to argue. Your comment paints a mindset of “them and us” - the old timers and the new users from LastPass. The new ones:
The new people today moved away from LastPass because of changes in how they handle free accounts.
The new people want a LastPass clone
And then a mention of the dynamic between the 2 groups:
We offer to show them the “Bitwarden-way” but we get push back because they’re so used to LastPass. It’s really frustrating as we understand your point as we did also use LastPass in the past but if you live with the Bitwarden-way you might find you like.
This confuses the users who post those “why isn’t this done yet” comments with all other users who have valid input about something that could be better. Some of the replies I’ve gotten - which you have liked - are comments that complety neglect the needs I communicate (clearer system feedback as an example) and instead go right to telling me that I’m simply wrong. For example, saying that software is different and anyone can learn to use it is true. But if we want Bitwarden to succeed and grow then I would argue that finding ways to make it even easier to use for new users would help that.
I hope to convey that taste and preference in terms of solutions can of course be discussed, but when people put in the time to communicate issues (not those demanding specific solutions! They are just as wrong as the ones claiming it would be wrong to change Bitwarden), I would really like the replies to be constructive. Then we can hopefully find some common ground in issues that could be helped and work on what exactly they are instead of solutions that we feel solve things that aren’t issues.
3 Likes
I like your post. What I would add though is that “the old timers” were once “new users” (from a variety of alternatives, I had tried a couple of alternatives before settling on Bitwarden). I have no idea if I am typical of “the old timers” or not, but it took me some time to fully understand all the features of Bitwarden, for example the different ways to use it to login to things. With any new thing one does need to get used to it and complaining that it doesn’t work exactly the way the previous thing worked is not helpful (as you indicate).
I’m not sure that anyone thinks that “it would be wrong to change Bitwarden”, there were plenty of requests for changes before the influx. I would certainly like several changes, the question is rather around what changes these should be and what the priority is for each one. In the end that is something for Bitwarden, as it is their business.
It is also worth reminding “the old timers”, including myself, that I imagine many of the “new users” presumably felt pushed into making the change and that will have raised their personal temperature.
1 Like
Having replied to this thread nearly 3 years ago (Jun’18) I thought I’d re-visit. A lot of thoughtful stuff!
Personally I started using LP a long time ago (probably when it was fairly new), then 3 years ago thought I’d look at alternatives. BW looked the best of the bunch, and I switched over for a while. There’s a lot I like - open-source (I’m a developer myself), multiple URLs, UI in many ways more flexible, TOTP (brilliant!), etc. But I found the lack of overlay (browser and mobile) was a bit of a killer and I reverted to LP.
With LP’s new charging structure I decided I would change to BW again, and try to live with the lack of overlay, which I’m doing. So I’m not a “newbie” wanting BW to be like LP, I like 99% of BW as it is, but overlay is a missing feature. This thread was started by Kyle as his own proposal!
Two examples of overlay problems:
-
PayPal in browser. It frequently presents a popup window to enter payment details, where you have to login. This has no toolbar so you can’t open the BW extension. You can use the shortcut to enter the last-used name/password, but if you have multiple PayPal accounts (as I do) then the last-used might not be the one you want this time. So you have to jump through a few hoops to make the login you want the last-used one.
-
Various banking apps on Android. They present a login screen, BW detects and shows the little popup. This switches context to BW, you click on the item to autofill and it switches back (this is time-consuming anyway). But because it’s been context-switched, the app has closed its login screen (presumably a “security” feature). Again requires hoop-jumping with clipboard and/or manual typing. App may not allow pasting into fields, even though they can be auto-filled. LP’s overlay, plus notification to open the overlay if auto-detect fails, is definitely superior.
These are real usability issues, and I believe do need addressing. I find it a bit odd that nothing’s been done given that Kyle proposed it 3 years ago.
My .02 anyway 
8 Likes
Signed up for the community just to upvote this, I only have 1 thing to add.
When signing up here on bitwarden, I used the lastpass overlay to generate the password used for this site. Why? Because it’s right there in the password field. As long as it’s there and bitwarden is not, lastpass will always be front of mind.
3 Likes
Sorry folks, I really wanted to buy Bitwarden - but the lack of this feature is a dealbreaker.
Two reasons: Family members to make it easier for them, and for me personally, I have sites with 10+ logins which use multistep login and selecting the right account with BW is just a PITA. The ctrl-shift-L just isn’t reliable when the username is on one page and the password on the next.
Will revisit next year when LP is up for renewal.
1 Like
I do wish Bitwarden had this feature, although I do find that using the toolbar instead is not inconvenient. I have also come across times when the LastPass overlay icon clashed with a Show Password toggle.
With regard to the discussion about “old” vs “new” users—with all due respect, I think there are people on both sides of it that are being opinionated.
When people use a particular software, they develop likes and dislikes about it. It is not unfair for people to criticize a product for not having benefits they enjoyed with its competitor. Additionally, I don’t think mocking people because “using the toolbar is too hard” adds to the discussion. It’s not that it’s too hard—it’s just markedly not as convenient for them. Berating people for requesting this is like berating someone for complaining that their previous car had volume controls on the steering wheel, which they used a lot, but the new one doesn’t. “Why don’t you just use the knob on the dash?!” you would say. That doesn’t further the discussion.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t classify not having this feature as a “deal breaker.” If there are problems using Bitwarden with certain websites, I would consider that a website-design flaw. And I do think getting upset that this feature isn’t implemented is making it a more serious issue than it needs to be.
4 Likes
There are some sites where I have 10+ accounts, this can make it challenging as BW does not seem to remember last account I used so if I am using the keyboard shortcut it starts from the top of the list and goes down. Also if I have a long list of detected accounts I end up having ot open the browser addin and then scroll to find the one I wanted to use, its something that I miss a lot from Dashlane as I think they handled this better.
That said I love most everything else about BW so far and hope there is either a way to deal with this that I don’t know about or they will develop a solution. My family, who do not have to deal with multiple logins for sites like I do, have been fine so far.
1 Like
Update: Someone did remind me in another thread about the right click context menu. That does help for sure but its still not as elegant as the way Dashlane handles multiple accounts.
2 Likes
One of the only features I miss from Lastpass (aside from password generate overlay when making new accounts) Because of that, I will stay on LastPass for my business account until bitwarden has it too.
1 Like
Please add this feature and make it optional. I do not understand why it was not added long ago. I assume you folks have it coded already.
3 Likes
Ellipsis button beside on a webpage login details box to select autofill dropdown just like lastpass provides on each webpage
There is a lot of interest for this feature to be an optional one. But the consensus seems like most would love it. Looks like no one from Bitwarden has reached out.
Anyone know how to reach out to them and get a response from them?
The Bitwarden team is constantly observing the forum. The last time one of their employees replied was on February 17th:
4 Likes
Hated this on LastPass, but if its optional then why not
4 Likes
Thank you for your post!
- Please search for an existing topic before posting a new one
- Please review the feature request rules before posting as well
Feature name
- Enter the name/concept of the feature being requested
Feature function
- What will this feature do differently?
- What benefits will this feature bring?
- Remember to add a tag for each client application that will be affected
Related topics + references
- Are there any related topics that may help explain the need and function of this feature?
- Are there any references to this feature or function on other platforms that may be helpful?
Like in LastPass, you have an icon in the passoword field to choose a password and validate it
Not just that, but with LastPass when you validate the selection, it directly triggers the saving prompt, because password managers often struggle to detect formular validation, so you miss the opportunity to save a newly created account and potentially loose it (as you don’t know the generated password)
So with that trigger at this moment you ALWAYS can save newly created account without missing one
1 Like
Please and thank you
Can you give a more detailed insight into why you “hated” it? How did it make you experience worse? I don’t work for the project but I am sure they would like to know why, too.
1 Like
No worries, I felt it just kept getting in the way.
Would show on irrelevant fields fairly often and sometimes obscure placeholder text (same for the chrome extension too)
1 Like
I see … sometimes it’s in the way, yes. If it’s annoying for a particular site there are options for that I think but I never used them. I really like to have the password generator button in the password fields for sites I am signing up to. It’s kind of reminding me to not use the same all over the place 
…