The Bitwarden Help Vault Timeout explanation does not mention any conditions on biometrics. Notably, this warning below is 100% incorrect, as ticking “never” + disabling biometrics allows Bitwarden to remain unlocked even after browser restarts.
Regardless of Vault Timeout settings, closing the Browser or Browser Tab will end your Web Vault or Browser Extension session, meaning you’ll be required to log in to access your Vault.
Why does enabling biometrics change any of this? Bitwarden’s Vault Timeout settings are likely one of the most confusing settings throughout the extension and I’ve been using Bitwarden for 24+ months.
What exactly is happening and, well, I’d also like to ask why does Bitwarden offer options that either are incompatible and/or don’t work?
I don’t have biometrics so I can’t verify, but it’s likely that since you have biometrics, you could just unlock with a touch of sensor so the never settings is disabled.
You’ve described what happens, but does Bitwarden allow incompatible options? That is, how are users to understand, “Ah, so combination A+B+Z will work, but not combination A+B+C” in terms of toggles / settings / preferences?
If Bitwarden has backend limitations, then the UI / Help article should probably note the limitations at the minimum, if not disable / gray them out.
The use case (i.e., why have it unlock with biometrics if it’s set to never lock) is more geared once…
I’m a few hour user coming from LastPass and indeed, if a 24+ month user is confused, one can imagine how much I’ve found this subject confounding!
The disable/enable combinations are frustratingly convoluted in terms of the what can be expected from the final outcome! And sadly, Bitwarden’s help screens are less than helpful in this case!
Well conceived and presented documentation should be provided for software this robust. In general, I haven’t found that to be the case, especially when compared to the competition!
Moreover, I remain unsure of what to do when – i.e., convenience vs security/stay at home PC vs portable PC, etc… What to do, how to do it and why to do it, or not (as it were)!! It’s a mystery shrouded in a conundrum of confusion. There’s no reason that users should be forced to frequent a forum to figure it out and then still be confused, when cogent documentation should mitigate and preclude such dismay and confusion!
