LastPass has one free level, and this has helped make it one of the most popular password managers in the world. But this free level now has some important limitations.
As of March 16, LastPass users of the free plan will no longer be able to use their phone password manager. i laptop. They will have to choose a type of device.
The free LastPass plan now has two options:
- For computers only: If you choose the desktop option, you can only access your data from any Mac, Windows, or Linux computer, which includes desktop or laptop computers.
- Mobile only: If you choose your mobile, you can only access your data from an iPhone, iPad, or Android phone or device (such as a Samsung Galaxy phone).
What you can’t do is use LastPass for free on your computer and phone. This won’t work for many people, which means it’s time to upgrade to a payment plan ($ 36 a year for a single user, $ 48 a year for families) or move your data to another location.
There are several password services that we believe are better than LastPass, and one of them is also free. If you’d like to change, check out our updated Guide to the Best Password Managers. Once you’ve decided where you want to remove your passwords, you’ll need to export your LastPass data and import it into the new service.
How to export your LastPass data
LastPass has two export options: a CSV file or an encrypted file. If you switch to any of the services in our guide, CSV is the option to use.
It is important to note that CSV is a plain text file, which means that this file we are about to export will have all your password data unencrypted, in plain text. Be very careful with this export file. I suggest that you export to your desktop or laptop using the browser extension, but only on a trusted network. Once you’ve imported this data into your new password manager, be sure to delete the plain text file.
The easiest way to extract your data is the LastPass web browser extension, which you can get from the LastPass site. Once you have the browser extension installed, click the browser toolbar button to open the LastPass menu. Click on Account options, so Advanced, so Export. Next, you should see an option called “LastPass CSV File”. Click this link and the web browser will save the resulting file to your hard drive.
If you’re using a phone or tablet (or you’ve already chosen your mobile plan), you’ll need to use lastpass.com. Account. Many browsers will not automatically download the generated file. To use the site, sign in to your account and expand the menu in the left sidebar and click Advanced options menu item. Then click Export , enter the master password and click Present. A CSV file will then open in the browser. Some browsers will download this file automatically. If you don’t, just select everything and copy it. Then open Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (MacOS) and paste the CSV data into it. Select File> Save As in Notepad or TextEdit and enter a name with the .csv extension at the end. Be sure to save it as plain text (not rich text).