KeePass: a Password Manager

The Code Project is a very useful site with C++, C#, and .NET tools, samples, and articles. I subscribe to their weekly newsletter, which summarizes all the new articles and tools that have been posted in the last week. About three months ago, the newsletter turned me on to a utility that has quickly become indispensible: KeePass, a Password Safe (or Manager).

KeePass stores passwords in an encrypted database. When you add an entry to the database, KeePass will automatically generate a strong password for you, such as xGlslolfeggU10JQ0Kig. You can override the password with a password of your choosing. KeePass also stores a username, URL, notes, and expiration date in each entry.

Between website registrations, network passwords, and credit cards, I have almost 80 entries in my KeePass database. For a long time, I was just reusing a handful of passwords and IDs, since I couldn't possibly remember that many distinct passwords.

If you type Ctrl+C, KeePass will copy the password of the selected entry to the clipboard, for 20 seconds. Ctrl+B copies the username.

KeePass is not perfect, but it is free and it's open source. The user interface lacks polish. The simple username/password/notes schema doesn't work well for credit cards: I store the card number in the username field and the three-digit CCV code in the password field.

KeePass for Pocket PC allows you to view (but not edit) your KeePass database on a Pocket PC.