Why doesn't my settings save?

Ask the Community Password Manager
1

I know this is not super important but why doesn’t my changes to my settings ever save?

For example when I sign into Bitwarden and open another tab and go to a different website, Bitwarden is set-up to “time-out” in 15 minutes, which requires me to type my password again to unlock Bitwarden to use it again.

I’ve gone to settings/options and changed my vault time out from 15 minutes to 1 hour and save the changes multiple times. But after I log out and the next time I use Bitwarden my “time-out” settings change back to 15 minutes again.

Why is this? Why doesn’t Bitwarden remember my saved changes in my settings? I know this isn’t a pressing/important feature, but come on it would be nice. I have a long password that can be a pain in the butt to keep typing over and over again. My last password website remembered my settings and kept them saved for every time I used it.

2

Its because you are logging out. If you want bitwarden to remember the settings, you will have to stay logged in.

To unlock your vault faster, you can set up a PIN. If PIN is set up, master password will not be required.

3

Hi @Matthew_Beery - welcome!

It sounds like you are using the Bitwarden Web Vault within your web browser to access your passwords, correct? If so, are you ensuring that you press the Save button after changing your vault timeout setting, and do you see a message that your options were updated? If so, your settings should persist on the web vault.

If you are using a Bitwarden app or browser extension, note that the timeout setting value can be different for each client, so you will have to set each one independently.

Also, if you are using the web vault in a browser tab, have you tried the Bitwarden browser extension for accessing your passwords? I find it to be a lot more convenient than using the Web Vault. Cheers!

4

Vachan,
First thanks for replying. In your answer you claim that I am “logging out”, when I am not. Like I mentioned, I turn on my computer, open Mozilla FireFox, go to Bitwarden and then enter my password to log in. I then click on whichever website I want to go, which it opens in a new tab. My Bitwarden vault stays open in a tab. After I’m done (usually after 15 minutes) going to whatever other website I went to, I return to the Bitwarden website tab to find my vault as locked and I have to re-type my password to unlock and access my vault. I can ensure you I am not logging out. I only log out of bitwarden when I am done for the day, and I understand when I initiate a log out, I wouldn’t expect my vault to stay open.

I’m not to sure about PIN set up? Personally I like a password for stronger security. So I don’t think I want to go the PIN route.

But thanks for your reply.

5

David H,

Thanks. Yes I am using Bitwarden within my web browser (Mozilla FireFox). I do ensure that I press the save button after changing the vault timeout setting, and a small green pop up comes up with “Options Updated”. But it still does not save my settings after logging out and then logging in say the next day. That’s what baffles me…why should I have to update this setting every time I log in?

I do have the Bitwarden app on my phone also, so maybe I need to change the settings on the phone too? But that I wouldn’t want. I don’t want the log in vault to be accessible for hours on my phone. On my computer that’s different, I think it would be hard to “lose” a computer versus a cell phone.

Yes I do have the Bitwarden extension that auto-fills the log in and passwords when using. Yes its a great handy tool, but when I want to go to a new website, I find it easier to go to my vault then the extension, but that is an option.

Like I said it’s not a huge deal. Just baffling. Maybe it’s some sort of setting I have saved for Mozilla Firefox. Thanks for providing your input though.

6

That is very strange behaviour, Matthew. I just checked, and my timeout settings persist regardless of whether I logout or restart my browser. I am not sure what could be happening at your end that your settings don’t persist - perhaps your browser privacy settings are preventing Bitwarden from saving the preferences?

1 Like
7

I’m am able to reproduce the behavior reported by @Matthew_Beery , and I have done some tests. All tests are on the same computer, and I did not reboot between tests (nor was I consistent about clearing the cache), so some of my conclusions may be inaccurate. Edit: Also, I never fully closed the incognito Chrome browser I was using for tests, which drastically changes some of the behavior reported below – apparently, all cookie-derived information is cleared when the incognito browser is closed, and any existing cookies are not reloaded when opening a new incognito browser.

Some settings (e.g., security settings, domain rules) behave as if they are stored on Bitwarden’s servers – they are always persistent across logins and browsers.

Other settings are apparently stored in cookies. For example, the vault timeout options will be persistent across logins and browsers, unless cookies are cleared, or you saved changes while in an incognito/private window (which automatically deletes cookies when the browser is closed). Edit: Vault timeout options are remembered between logins within the same incognito browsing session, if and only if the incognito browser was open while changes were made in the non-incognito browser).

However, the Account Setting Preferences other than vault timeout options (e.g., language, icons, gravatars, etc.) are a bit of a mystery. If using a regular browser (not incognito/private), the settings are remembered between logins, but if using an incognito/private browser, the settings do not persist – thus, these settings behave as if they are stored in cookies. However, unlike the vault timeout options, if I make a change in a regular browser (not incognito/private, to allow the cookies to be saved), then the preference settings do not load when subsequently logging in on an incognito/private browser (Edit: even if the incognito browser had remained open) – only the vault timeout options are recovered in the incognito browser. This is odd, because although I’m no expert on cookies, my experience is that incognito browsers do load any available cookie information (saved by a regular browser) – Edit: if the incognito browser had been open while the cookies were set by a regular browser – but they do not save their own cookies.

The last used settings on the password generator behave in a similar way to the account preferences described in the previous paragraph. There may be some additional oddities in the behavior of the password generator across incognito and non-incognito browsers, but I’d have to do more testing.

It would be nice if all settings were stored in a way that they would always be persistent.