How to Keep Track of Passwords

A universal challenge for all of us in the techno-age: How to keep track of passwords?

A common solution is to use the password tracking features in our browsers. These work great until the browser gets attacked and your secrets get spilled across the Internet, or your browser gets infected and must be reinstalled.

A low-tech/high tech solution is to simply create a spreadsheet to keep track of passwords. This simple spreadsheet will have five columns: Name of the resource, URL (web address), Username, Password and Notes.

A few years ago I started to accumulate and keep track of what has grown to a surprisingly large list of passwords. With my "password tracking spreadsheet", I have sorted passwords by category and have used the tabbed worksheets for even better password tracking.

The beauty of using a spreadsheet to keep track of passwords is that you can also add notes to the spreadsheet, such as expiration dates, prices, and hints on how best to use the site.

The problem with using a spreadsheet to track passwords is the need to find and open the password file each time you need it.
This is where Lightning Navigator comes in.
It is a handy little seven buck utility which can associate any file with a three-key shortcut. The first two keys are always "control + alt", so you only need to remember one key, which you select. I selected "P" for the file where I keep track of passwords.

Lightning Navigator runs in the background awaiting your command. Need a password? Press the keys "control + alt + P" all at the same time. Immediately your spreadsheet software launches with your password tracking file loaded displayed.

I have expanded the use of my "password tracking spreadsheet" to also include other stray bits of information which seem to come up along the way. My "password tracking spreadsheet" has tabs for favorite websites where I syndicate articles, affiliate relationships, my favorite information resources, travel sites, google resources, financial sites I use, and FTP access for my web servers.

This little trick is guaranteed to keep you and your passwords on track!