Help › Functions

Passwords

The password manager in DeskRanger: set up without a master password, secure the recovery key, lock and unlock.

macOSWindowsiPhone & iPad · Coming soonAndroidLinux

Passwords is the password manager in DeskRanger. Your entries are encrypted on your device before they leave it. DeskRanger's servers keep only encrypted data and cannot read it.

The row Passwords is the last one in the library as soon as our service offers passwords for your account.

iPhone & iPad

On the iPhone, Passwords is a tab of the bottom bar, between Devices and Network; the bar ends with More (where Terminal and Settings are). On the iPad the row is in the sidebar.

Setting up

The page shows three steps side by side.

No master password. A new device gets your passwords only with your approval. Set Up … takes you on.
Secure your recovery key. The recovery key belongs to DeskRanger Secure. If you lose all your devices, only this key opens your passwords again. Print it and keep it in a safe place.
Bring your passwords over. After the set-up DeskRanger takes over your saved credentials by itself (see below). You bring entries over from other password managers with Import… (see „Importing from another password manager“); on Mac and Windows the button is on this card as soon as the set-up is done.

What step 2 needs from you depends on your account:

DeskRanger Secure is still off. Create recovery key … opens Turn on DeskRanger Secure. There you confirm that it is you, choose your devices, print the key and type two of its groups back as a check. Afterwards the card says Recovery key secured, and you do not have to enter the key again.
DeskRanger Secure is already on. You enter the key once from your printout. DeskRanger asks for it only at the first set-up in your account.

macOS

If another of your devices already set up the passwords, the page shows one card instead of the three steps right away: Ask your other device for approval. Your account already has passwords. This device gets them once you approve it on one of your other devices. This device needs no recovery key. Prepare this device sets up the passwords on this device, still empty; your device asks for you once. Afterwards the page says This device is waiting for your approval.

Windows

iPhone & iPad

Android

Your account already has passwords. Then this device needs no recovery key: Your account already has passwords. This device gets them once you approve it on one of your other devices.

Linux

DeskRanger Secure is on, but without a recovery key. Only a device whose key asks for you every time makes a new one; this computer's key does not. The card says so: You create a new recovery key on a Mac, iPhone or Android device. Then you type the key here once.

Secured, Continue sets up the passwords on this device. Your device asks for you exactly once.

When DeskRanger Secure is off and a new device gets its keys with six digits from one of your devices, the card on that device says what it passes on: Credentials, Library and Passwords, as far as it has them itself. What it lacks, the new device only gets from a device that has it, with six digits there once more. So type the digits on a device that has everything. If “Passwords” is locked there, unlock it before you approve.

macOS

You unlock with Touch ID. No password you could forget. The Mac asks for Touch ID or for this Mac's password. The key that opens your passwords on this Mac lives in the Secure Enclave and never leaves the Mac.

Windows

You unlock with Windows Hello. No password you could forget. Windows Hello asks for your face, fingerprint or PIN. The key that opens your passwords on this PC lives in the PC's security chip (TPM) and never leaves it.

If Windows Hello does not keep its key in the security chip, you choose a PIN for passwords instead: You unlock with a PIN for passwords that only this PC knows. You type it under New PIN and Repeat the PIN; the page shows the minimum length, a longer PIN is safer. If the PC has a security chip, the chip checks the PIN: This PC's security chip checks the PIN and blocks after too many wrong tries. If it has none, the page shows the note This PC has no security chip that counts the tries. A program running under your Windows account could guess a short PIN: better choose a longer one. once. After wrong PINs the PC waits longer and longer before the next try. If DeskRanger Secure is already on, you type the recovery key back: DeskRanger Secure is already on. Type your recovery key once from the printout.

iPhone & iPad

This function is coming soon to iPhone & iPad.

Android

You unlock with your fingerprint, face or screen lock. No password to forget. Android asks once for your fingerprint, face or screen lock. The key that opens your passwords on this phone lives in the phone's Keystore (in the security chip, where the phone has one) and never leaves the phone. Without a screen lock Android keeps no such key: Set up a screen lock first. Without one, Android keeps no key that asks for you.

On a further device

If your account already has passwords, you do not need to type the recovery key on the next device. This device asks one of your other devices that already has passwords set up.

On the new device the page with This device is waiting for your approval waits. It shows a six-digit code. Type it on the other device right away. The code is valid for a short time only; Ask Again asks again.
On the other device a notice reports the request. Open Passwords there and unlock it. The request sits above the list. Choose Enter code and type the code the new device shows. When it matches, choose Approve and confirm with that device's prompt (Touch ID, Windows Hello or fingerprint). The request also shows on the Dashboard in the Needs attention tile; Open Passwords leads to the same approval.
Afterwards the new device opens its passwords by itself.

If you switched DeskRanger Secure on on this device, it asks for you once more when the passwords arrive (Touch ID, Face ID, Windows Hello, or your fingerprint, face or screen lock on Android) and so stores your recovery key for the passwords too, without you typing it.

iPhone & iPad

This function is coming soon to iPhone & iPad.

Linux

On Linux the request sits above the list once the passwords are unlocked; while they are locked the page says: Another device is waiting for your approval. Unlock your passwords to answer. Approve approves with this computer's key and asks nothing more, since you typed the PIN for passwords when you unlocked. The notice comes while DeskRanger runs. On the Dashboard the request also shows in the Needs attention tile; Open Passwords leads to the passwords. On the new device Continue asks and shows the code; the field for the recovery key appears only when you choose Enter recovery key ….

If you do not know the request, choose Decline. If you choose This Wasn’t Me, someone is using your account: change your password. After too many wrong codes the request is dropped. DeskRanger never answers a request that was clicked from a remote session; answer at the device itself. If the page instead says Passwords can't be shared yet, create a new recovery key once on the device that has Passwords; asking again alone does not help then.

Taking over saved credentials

After the set-up, step 3 says: Your saved logins are being taken over. These are the saved logins, SSH environments and SSH keys of this device. They go into the vault Personal. You don't have to press anything: DeskRanger does it by itself and only shows you how far it is.

Taking over … This carries on in the background even if you go on with Go to your passwords.
Part of it is waiting for the connection. As soon as DeskRanger is back online, it carries on by itself. Until then these logins stay usable here as before. Nothing was deleted.
Everything taken over. Your saved logins are now in the vault “Personal”. The previous store stays unchanged. If a value differs on another device, it stays as a version to choose from. Once everything is taken over, the page opens your passwords right away, with no step 3 and no further button. This note sits above the list once. On the Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and iPad it also says how many logins, SSH environments and SSH keys were taken over and how many entries have a version to choose. OK removes it for good on this device.

The takeover deletes nothing. The previous store stays as it is, and the switch Sync credentials between my devices under Security goes away on this device as soon as the takeover begins: Your logins are part of Passwords now and are kept in sync between your devices there. More about saved credentials is under Credentials.

Locking and unlocking

After every start of DeskRanger the passwords are locked. They also lock by themselves

when you choose Lock,
when you have not used them for a while,
when the computer goes to sleep,
when the screen is locked,
when another user of the computer comes forward.

The locked page shows only the lock and the button to unlock: Unlock to see your entries. No list, name, number or search is visible until you unlock. Under the title the page says why it is locked, for example Locked after being idle.

macOS

Unlock with Touch ID opens the passwords again, or with this Mac’s password.

In a session through DeskRanger Host (without asking or at the login screen) this Mac's “Passwords” stay locked; your own passwords on the device you connect from keep working.

When you switch DeskRanger Host on, DeskRanger locks this Mac's “Passwords” once; unlock them again afterwards.

Windows

Unlock with Windows Hello opens the passwords again, or with your Windows Hello PIN. On Windows the passwords also lock when you sign out or the connection to the PC is disconnected. With a PIN for passwords you type it into the PIN for passwords box and press Unlock. After a wrong one the page says Wrong PIN., and after several when the next try is possible. Forgot the PIN? Another of your devices or your recovery key brings your passwords back.

You change a PIN for passwords without a security chip while the passwords are open, with Change PIN next to Lock: type the Current PIN and the new one twice, then choose Change. The current PIN counts as at the unlock: after wrong ones the PC waits longer each time. Afterwards only the new PIN opens the passwords on this PC; your other devices notice nothing.

In a session through the DeskRanger service (without asking or at the login screen) this PC's “Passwords” stay locked; your own passwords on the device you connect from keep working.

After an update of the DeskRanger service, unlock “Passwords” once more.

iPhone & iPad

This function is coming soon to iPhone & iPad.

Linux

On Linux the passwords unlock with the PIN for passwords you chose at the set-up: Enter your PIN for passwords asks for it in a box. After a wrong one the page says how long the next try has to wait. The PIN's protected copy lives in your desktop's keyring (Secret Service), so the keyring has to be unlocked for the PIN to work; there is no fingerprint or chip on Linux. The passwords also lock when the computer goes to sleep, when the session is locked and when another user's session comes forward.

You change the PIN while the passwords are open, in the settings next to Lock, with Change PIN: type the current PIN, then the new one twice. The current PIN counts as at the unlock: after wrong ones you wait longer each time. Linux has no extra password, because the PIN already is one.

If you unlock “Passwords” at the computer itself while a remote session is running, the page shows one line that says who is connected and that your passwords are allowed for this session only. It goes when the session ends, another device connects or the passwords lock; it never shows a value. On an Android phone only a fingerprint or your face counts for this, not a typed screen lock.

iPhone & iPad

On an iPhone or iPad the passwords also lock as soon as you leave DeskRanger; when you come back you unlock them again with Face ID or Touch ID. That way someone you show your screen to cannot see them while DeskRanger is in the background.

While someone watches your shared screen, this device's “Passwords” stay locked.

Under More › Settings › Passwords (greyed until “Passwords” is set up) you lock at once with Lock now and see how far the takeover of your logins is. There you also choose when they lock by themselves and, if you like, set an extra password (see Settings for Passwords).

Android

Unlock opens the passwords again with your fingerprint, face or screen lock. On Android the passwords also lock when the screen goes off. If the key on the phone is gone: The key on this phone is gone. Your passwords come back through another device or your recovery key.

Under Settings › Passwords (greyed until “Passwords” is set up) you lock at once with Lock now and see how far the takeover of your logins is. There you also choose when they lock by themselves and, if you like, set an extra password.

When unlocking no longer works

Sometimes a device can no longer open its passwords, for example when its key in the device was lost or damaged. Then the locked page also shows Set up passwords again on this device.

macOS

Set up passwords again on this device deletes the passwords on this device only and sets them up again right away. DeskRanger asks first; Set up again confirms. Changes this device has not sent yet are lost. Your account, your other devices and everything already sent stay untouched. Afterwards this device asks for approval again; another of your devices approves it, as at the first set-up. You do not need the recovery key for this.

Windows

Set up passwords again on this device deletes the passwords on this PC only, together with the Windows Hello key or the PIN for passwords that opened them here. DeskRanger asks first; Set up again confirms. Changes this device has not sent yet are lost. Your account, your other devices and everything already sent stay untouched. Afterwards the page shows the set-up again: you choose Windows Hello or a new PIN for passwords, and this PC asks for approval; another of your devices approves it, as at the first set-up. You do not need the recovery key for this.

iPhone & iPad

This function is coming soon to iPhone & iPad.

Android

Set up passwords again on this device deletes the passwords on this phone only, together with the Keystore key that opened them here. DeskRanger asks first; Set up again confirms. Changes this device has not sent yet are lost. Your account, your other devices and everything already sent stay untouched. Afterwards the page shows the set-up again and this phone asks for approval; another of your devices approves it, as at the first set-up. You do not need the recovery key for this.

Linux

Set up passwords again on this device deletes the passwords on this computer only, together with the protected copy of the PIN for passwords in the keyring. DeskRanger asks first and says how many changes not yet sent are lost. Your account, your other devices and everything already sent stay untouched. Afterwards the page shows the set-up again: you choose a new PIN for passwords, and this computer asks for approval; another of your devices approves it, as at the first set-up. You don't need the recovery key for this.

Settings for Passwords

Once Passwords is set up, the settings have a tab of their own, Passwords.

With Unlock as soon as it opens (on by default) your device asks to unlock right away when you open the locked page yourself; if you cancel, the button stays and it asks again only the next time you open it. It does not ask by itself when DeskRanger starts, when you return from the background, or with an extra password.

macOS

Lock. Shows whether Passwords is locked, and Lock now locks it at once.
Lock automatically. Here you choose after how long without activity the passwords on this device lock automatically. Choose Never to turn off locking after inactivity. With Never they still lock on sleep, screen lock and user switch.
Extra password. If you like, an extra password is asked for before unlocking, for example on a Mac that several people use. More under Extra password.
Saved logins. Shows how far the takeover is, as described above.
Recovery key. Your recovery key belongs to DeskRanger Secure. You create a new one there. Go to DeskRanger Secure takes you there. More under DeskRanger Secure.

Windows

Lock. Shows whether Passwords is locked, and Lock now locks it at once.
Lock automatically. Here you choose after how long without activity the passwords on this device lock automatically. Choose Never to turn off locking after inactivity. With Never they still lock on sleep, screen lock and user switch.
Extra password. If you like, an extra password is asked for before unlocking, for example on a PC that several people use. More under Extra password.
Saved logins. Shows how far the takeover is, as described above.
Recovery key. Your recovery key belongs to DeskRanger Secure. You create a new one there. Go to DeskRanger Secure takes you there. More under DeskRanger Secure.

iPhone & iPad

This function is coming soon to iPhone & iPad.

Linux

This setting does not exist on Linux: the passwords unlock with the PIN for passwords you type, so the page never asks by itself, and there is no extra password because the PIN already is one.

Extra password

With Set … you set an extra password (typed twice; the page shows the minimum length). From then on the locked page shows the field Extra password: you type the extra password and then unlock as usual with Touch ID, Face ID, Windows Hello or, on Android, fingerprint, face or screen lock. So even someone who knows your device's lock cannot get at your passwords.

The extra password applies to this device only; on your other devices you set it there if you want. Change … and Remove … work only while the passwords are unlocked and ask for the current extra password first. A Windows PC that protects the passwords with a PIN for passwords only has no extra password: the PIN already is one.

If you forgot it, Set up passwords again on this device appears after too many wrong tries (see above). Your passwords then come back through another device of yours or your recovery key; only changes of this device that were not sent yet are lost.

Looking at entries

Unlocked, the page shows three areas side by side.

On the left you narrow the list: All Entries, Favorites, your Vaults, the Types of your entries and your Tags.
In the middle is the list. Each row shows the entry's name and type, for example Login or Card. Search entries searches the list. For a payment card the row shows the network and only the last four digits of the number ("Visa •••• 4242"), with the network's logo where there is one; in the editor a quiet hint points at a number that cannot be right, and you can still save.
On the right is the entry you chose, with its fields.

A password and every other secret value is shown as dots. Show shows the value, Hide conceals it again. DeskRanger reads a secret value only at the moment you show or copy it. As soon as the passwords lock, every value on show disappears at once.

Copy puts a value on the clipboard. For a secret value the page says: Copied. The clipboard is cleared after 90 seconds. If you copied something else in the meantime, that stays untouched. DeskRanger also marks a secret value so that programs which record the clipboard's history can leave it out.

Windows

On Windows a secret value does not appear in the clipboard history (Windows key + V) or in the clipboard that syncs between your devices. After a short time the clipboard is cleared if it still holds the same value.

iPhone & iPad

This function is coming soon to iPhone & iPad.

If an entry has two-factor sign-in, the current code is under One-time code. The ring next to it shows how long the code is still valid.

The star on an entry or in the list (Favorite) makes an entry a favorite, and a second click takes it out again. The number next to Favorites follows at once. The star changes only the marker, nothing else about the entry.

Connect opens the device or saved connection the entry is linked to (a device, or the saved connection DeskRanger took the entry over from). It runs the same action as the card of that device or connection in the library. DeskRanger passes no password along: the session uses the login that is already saved there. The button is also in the quick access. If nothing is linked it stays grey (Link this entry to a device to connect.), and if the device or connection is no longer in your list the hint says: The linked device or saved connection is no longer there. On the iPhone and iPad the button sits under the entry's header, on Android under the fields, on Linux at the bottom of the entry next to Edit; in the quick access Enter opens the connection when the entry has one. When the button is grey, a sentence below it gives the reason on iPhone, iPad and Android, and the hint under the mouse does on Linux. An SSH key or an entry with only an address has no target (as on the Mac). The session or the terminal opens over the app.

An entry with an expiry date (see below) gets the mark Expires soon in the list and above its fields before that date, and Expired once the date has passed. DeskRanger only marks it; there is no notification yet.

Security Check

Under Security Check (on the left, in the list of filters) DeskRanger checks every entry on this device. The check runs on this device only; nothing is sent. At the top is a score from 0 to 100, below it a tile for each kind of hint, for example Weak or Reused. The hints themselves are in boxes: Change the password (weak, reused or long unchanged passwords and websites without encryption), Expiring (expired cards and certificates, and entries whose expiry date is near or past) and Protect better (the service offers 2FA or passkeys). Open shows the entry so you can change it. Hints only: the check changes nothing on its own. Check now checks again.

Quick access

macOS

Press ⌥⌘P (Option, Command and P) to open Quick access above every window, other apps included. Type part of the name or the website; the best match is at the top. With nothing typed it shows your favourites. The arrow keys choose another entry.

⌘C: Copy password. Return and a double click do the same.
⇧⌘C: Copy code (the two-factor sign-in code).
⌘O: Open website.
⌘↓: Show in Passwords.
Escape closes quick access.

Windows

Press Ctrl+Alt+P to open Quick access above every window, other apps included. Type part of the name or the website; the best match is at the top. With nothing typed it shows your favourites. The arrow keys choose another entry.

Ctrl+C: Copy password. Enter and a double click do the same.
Ctrl+Shift+C: Copy code (the two-factor sign-in code).
Ctrl+O: Open website.
Ctrl+Down arrow: Show in Passwords.
Esc closes quick access, and so does a click on another window.

When you copy something, quick access closes and you paste the value straight into the app behind it. The same rules apply as on the page: Copied. The clipboard is cleared after 90 seconds. While your passwords are locked it shows no name and searches nothing; Unlock with Windows Hello opens them (with a PIN for passwords, Open Passwords takes you to the page, where you type the PIN). The key works only while passwords are set up on this PC; if another program already uses Ctrl+Alt+P, the key does nothing. Quick access does not appear in a screen sharing session.

iPhone & iPad

This function is coming soon to iPhone & iPad.

Linux

Quick access opens with Ctrl+Alt+P while the DeskRanger window is in front, or with its button next to Lock. Wayland gives an app no key that works over every window; if you want one, bind a shortcut of your desktop to start DeskRanger and press Ctrl+Alt+P in it. Type part of the name or the website; the best match is at the top, and with nothing typed you see your favourites. The arrow keys choose another entry, Enter does Copy password; the buttons also offer Copy code, Open website and Show in Passwords. Copied. The clipboard is cleared after 90 seconds. While your passwords are locked it shows no name and searches nothing; Open Passwords takes you to the page.

Typing a password into a remote session

In a remote session, Type password under More types a saved password into the other device, without the clipboard. DeskRanger releases the value for exactly this, shows nothing and keeps nothing. If Passwords is not set up on this device yet, Set up passwords … stands there and opens the set-up. How it works and what the notes mean is described in the article about remote sessions.

Trash and history

Deleted entries stay in the Trash for a while (on the left, in the list of filters). When the trash is empty, the page shows how many days deleted entries are kept. Each row shows when the entry was deleted. When you choose an entry, the right side says when it will be deleted for good. Restore brings it back: it is under All Entries again, and DeskRanger shows it to you right away. If there is no connection, it is back on this device and reaches your other devices as soon as the connection is back. You cannot permanently delete an entry yourself: it disappears automatically after those days have passed. If an entry says Content not available right now, its content is not on this device right now and cannot be fetched. No actions are available for it then; try again later.

You delete an entry with Move to Trash (the trash icon at the top right of the entry). DeskRanger asks once and says how many days you can bring the entry back from the Trash. The list then chooses the next entry. If there is no connection, the deletion waits: the entry stays in the list until the connection is back.

The History is at the bottom right of an entry. It shows the entry's earlier versions, the newest first: when each was saved and when it was replaced. If a secret value such as the password changed in between, the row names that field followed by the word “changed”, for example “Password changed”. How far back the history goes depends on your plan. Click a row to view that version (View only). Secret values are dots there too: Show shows the earlier value, Copy copies it, with the same clipboard rules as for the current entry. DeskRanger reads the earlier value only at that moment. When Passwords lock, everything you had shown is gone.

Restore this version makes an earlier version the current one again. DeskRanger asks you to confirm once before restoring it (Restore this version?). The present version is not lost: it stays in the history, so you can undo this the same way.

If you changed an entry on two devices at the same time, it shows the note “Changed on two devices at the same time. Choose which version stays.” at the top. View versions… puts the Current version next to the Other version and lists what differs. Secret values appear there only as the field's name followed by the word “changed”, never in clear. Under the version that should stay, choose Keep this one; the other one is dropped. When Passwords lock, the comparison closes. On iPhone and iPad the versions are listed one below the other instead of side by side.

Creating and changing an entry

New Entry in the toolbar creates a new entry. First you choose the type, for example Login, Wi-Fi or Card. Then the editor opens with the fields that belong to that type. You change an existing entry with Edit on the entry: the same editor opens with the stored values; a secret value is read only when you show or change it. Websites you do not change keep their setting (for example „this host only“).

Only the Title is required. You fill in every other field when you need it. A secret value such as a password shows as dots while you type, Show shows it. Websites, dates and the note have their own fields.

Save puts the entry in your vault, Cancel discards it. If you have already typed something, DeskRanger asks first: Discard changes? If there is no connection right now, the entry is saved on this device and reaches your other devices as soon as the connection is back; the page tells you so. With a connection it shows within seconds on your other devices where the passwords are unlocked; a locked device gets it at its next unlock.

If the passwords lock while the editor is open, it closes, and everything you had not saved yet is gone. After you unlock, the page tells you: Passwords were locked. Unsaved input was discarded.

Create password under the fields makes a strong password: random, from words or as a PIN, with the settings the dialog shows. Use puts it into the password field; it is only saved with the entry. On Mac and Windows you type tags into the Tags field in the editor: Return adds one, commas separate several, the cross on a tag removes it. File attachments are already visible in the editor but still grey (Coming later).

macOS

Under More details (closed unless the entry already holds one of them) any entry can carry an expiry date, a rotation note, a Stage and a project. Leave them empty and the entry is saved exactly as before. The type Environment, in the group Developer when you create an entry (closed until you open it), holds the variables of an environment such as production: each has a name and points to a field of another entry. Variables: A variable points to a field of another entry. The value is not copied, it stays there. In the entry the variable shows as the title of that entry and the field, without a copy button.

macOS

For entries with a one-time code you set up 2FA in the Set up 2FA card: paste the secret or the link, or press QR code from the screen or QR code from image…. DeskRanger reads the QR code, checks the link and fills it in. Reading the screen needs the “Screen Recording” permission you already gave on the Mac for remote sessions; DeskRanger never asks for it by itself. Without it you can still choose an image. The image is neither saved nor sent.

Windows

For entries with a one-time code you set up 2FA in the Set up 2FA card: paste the secret or the link, or press QR code from the screen or QR code from image…. DeskRanger reads the QR code, checks the link and fills it in. For the screen, DeskRanger takes a picture of all your monitors; its own windows are left out of it, and Windows asks for no permission. The QR code must be visible on a monitor. The image is neither saved nor sent.

iPhone & iPad

For entries with a one-time code you set up 2FA in the Set up 2FA field: paste the secret or the link, or tap Scan QR code (the camera reads the QR code the website shows), QR code from photo… or QR code from image… (Files). DeskRanger reads the QR code and checks the link before it is filled in. iOS asks about the camera the first time; if you say no, photo and file remain. No picture is saved or sent. While this device's screen is shared or recorded, photo and file are off (the system picker would sit outside the protected window); the camera still works.

Android

For entries with a one-time code you set up 2FA in the Set up 2FA field: paste the secret or the link, or tap Scan QR code (the camera reads the QR code the website shows), QR code from photo… or QR code from image…. DeskRanger reads the QR code and checks the link before it is filled in. Android asks about the camera the first time; if you say no, photo and file remain. No picture is saved or sent, and screenshots are blocked while the camera is open. While the screen is shared or recorded, photo and file are off (the system picker would sit outside the protected window); the camera still works.

Linux

For entries with a one-time code you set up 2FA in the Set up 2FA card: paste the secret or the link, or read the QR code from an image. Take a screenshot of the QR code with the Print key and press Paste QR code, or choose an image file with QR code from image…. DeskRanger reads the QR code, checks the link and fills it in. On Linux DeskRanger does not read the screen itself: GNOME would ask you every time. The image is neither saved nor sent.

Importing from another password manager

macOS

Import… in the toolbar brings in entries from another password manager. Choose the export file with Choose file… (1Password, Bitwarden, KeePass, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, LastPass, Proton Pass, Dashlane, NordPass or Enpass); DeskRanger recognises the format itself. If the file is protected, DeskRanger asks for its password. The file is read on your device, and none of it goes to our servers before you confirm.

The preview then shows how many entries of which kind were found and which are skipped, with the reason (for example trash, an attachment or an unsupported kind). Nothing is deleted or overwritten; the entries are added as new ones. Only your confirmation writes the entries; at the end it says how many were imported and how many wait for the connection. Cancel imports nothing. If the passwords lock meanwhile, the preview is gone and you start again.

Windows

Import… next to the plus above the list brings in entries from another password manager; on an empty page the same button is below the plus. Choose the export file with Choose file… (1Password, Bitwarden, KeePass, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, LastPass, Proton Pass, Dashlane, NordPass or Enpass); DeskRanger recognises the format itself. If the file is protected, DeskRanger asks for its password. The file is read on your PC, and none of it goes to our servers before you confirm.

iPhone & iPad

Import… in the list's menu (next to the plus) brings in entries from another password manager. Choose the export file in the Files app with Choose file… (1Password, Bitwarden, KeePass, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, LastPass, Proton Pass, Dashlane, NordPass or Enpass); DeskRanger recognises the format itself. If the file is protected, DeskRanger asks for its password. The file is read on your device, and none of it goes to our servers before you confirm. Delete the export file afterwards: it may contain your passwords in plain text.

Android

Import… below the search brings in entries from another password manager. Choose the export file in Android's file picker with Choose file… (1Password, Bitwarden, KeePass, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, LastPass, Proton Pass, Dashlane, NordPass or Enpass); DeskRanger recognises the format itself and gets only that one file. If it is protected, DeskRanger asks for its password. The file is read on your device, and none of it goes to our servers before you confirm. Screenshots are blocked while the page is open. Delete the export file afterwards: it may contain your passwords in plain text.

Linux

Import… in the page's header brings in entries from another password manager. Choose the export file with Choose file… (1Password, Bitwarden, KeePass, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, LastPass, Proton Pass, Dashlane, NordPass or Enpass); DeskRanger recognises the format itself and asks for the file's password if it is protected. The preview shows what was found and what is skipped; Nothing is deleted or overwritten; the entries are added as new ones. Only your confirmation writes the entries, and Cancel imports nothing. If the passwords lock meanwhile, the preview is gone and you start again.

What if I lose all my devices?

Then only the recovery key opens your passwords again. That is why it is part of the set-up. When you approve a new device with the recovery key, your passwords come along at once; the same when you switch DeskRanger Secure back on with the recovery key. If the page then shows Renew your recovery key once, and restoring works again., renew the recovery key on a device that still has your passwords. If it shows The recovery key did not bring your passwords back. Approve this device on one that already has them., approve the new device on one of your devices as usual. If a device that has your passwords shows the card Confirm your recovery key once, type your recovery key there once and press Confirm recovery key; after that further devices and restoring work again. Without the recovery key and without a device nobody can restore your passwords, not even DeskRanger.

When something goes wrong or is missing

Passwords come from your other devices. DeskRanger fetches what other devices wrote after you unlock, after an approval, and when you open the page after a while. If that fails, you see nothing new, not an error. An entry saved on another device arrives quickly when both devices are online and the passwords are unlocked. The same holds on iPhone, iPad and Android.
Limits. Limits apply to individual entries, their number and storage space. If you reach one, saving is refused; existing entries remain. Pictures and large files do not belong in Passwords.
Set up passwords again on this device. If you can no longer unlock passwords on this device, the locked page offers Set up passwords again on this device. It resets Passwords on this device only and tells you first how many unsent changes would be lost. Afterwards the device asks again and gets your passwords by an approval from another of your devices, without the recovery key. While someone other than one of your own devices controls this device remotely, DeskRanger refuses and tells you so; end the remote session first.
The recovery key after switching Secure on. If you switched DeskRanger Secure on on a device that did not yet hold your passwords, DeskRanger remembers the recovery key of that step. When the passwords arrive, the system prompt stores their recovery copy with it, with no typing. The later card exists on Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android. If you cancel or restart in between, the card Confirm your recovery key once asks for it later.
Approving a new device (standard level). The approving device's card says which sets of keys it passes on (sign-in data, library, passwords), that Passwords may be locked there and then go along only if you unlock them before approving (“Passwords” is locked here. Unlock it before you approve so your passwords go along.), and that a missing set comes only from a device that has it, with six digits entered there.