How to Use Keeper Password Manager: A Comprehensive Guide

Keeper is an all-around password manager that offers a variety of authentication options and an intuitive user interface.

In this article, we walk you through how to set up Keeper, how to use it, and how you can maximize its capabilities for your organization.

Keeper step-by-step instructions

1. Choosing a Keeper subscription

Keeper has two subscription types: Personal & Family and Organizations. The Personal & Family options are the more consumer-facing subscriptions, while the Organizations tier is designed for small to large businesses.

In our hands-on review, Keeper received a rating of 4.4 stars out of 5. Check out the full Keeper review here.

Keeper’s Personal or Unlimited plan is priced at $2.92 per month and comes with one user vault. The Family plan is $6.25 per month for five user vaults.

The Organizations plans are divided into Business Starter, Business, and Enterprise. Keeper Business Starter covers small teams of up to ten people, while Keeper Business is meant for small to medium-sized businesses — with the two plans starting at $2 per user, per month, and $3.75 per user, per month, respectively.

Keeper Enterprise is tailored towards larger companies and includes more business-focused features. You can contact Keeper for a quote on Enterprise pricing.

Keeper offers a generous 30-day free trial for Keeper Personal, and a 14-day trial for Keeper Business; neither requires a credit card or payment information to access.

I highly recommend picking the plan best suited for you or your business and trying out their free trial. This lets you experience Keeper’s password management without paying for a premium subscription. Keeper has a free version, but it’s very limited and is only available on the mobile application.

2. Setting up the web app and browser extension

To get access to one of Keeper’s free trials, click the “Try It Free” button at the top of Keeper’s Pricing page and select your plan of choice. For this guide’s sake, we will try out Keeper Personal.

Keeper will ask you to provide an email address. Once you’ve provided one, you’ll be redirected to Keeper’s web application. From there, it’ll ask you to input your email address and create a Master Password.

Your master password is technically the only password you’ll have to make on your own. It unlocks your Keeper vaults, where all your data and credentials are going to be stored.

Because it’s your main gateway to all your passwords, it’s crucial that you remember your master password. Keeper will send you a verification code through your email and ask you to input it on their app.

Once you input the code, you’ll now be able to access Keeper’s full web vault!

3. Using Keeper

When you first encounter Keeper’s web vault, it’ll offer you a few tutorials on how to import passwords, install the browser extension, and set up account recovery.

Of the three tutorials, go through the browser extension guide first. This will allow you to have Keeper’s extension ready on your browser at all times and will make your password management experience more seamless.

If you’re using Chrome, you can download Keeper Password Manager on the Chrome Web Store. Now that you have both Keeper’s web app and browser extension installed, you can start saving and managing your passwords.

To show you how to save your first login, I’ll demonstrate the process by creating a new Goodreads account. Upon navigating to Goodreads’ account creation page, you will see that a Keeper logo will appear on the password field. Clicking on it will show the Keeper’s password generator.

Keeper’s password generator automatically creates a random password for every new login you have. Through the generator, you can configure how many characters you want a password to have and whether you want it to have numbers, letters, symbols, or a combination of the three. At default, Keeper’s password manager generates a 20-character password with a maximum of 100 characters.

After you’ve input your new account details, Keeper’s browser extension will ask you to save the new login to your Keeper vault.

Once you click “OK,” you’ve officially saved your very first login in Keeper!

How to ensure you’re maximizing Keeper’s capabilities

Out of the box, Keeper offers heightened security in protecting your passwords. However, there are a few steps you can take to fully maximize its features.

Download Keeper’s dedicated desktop app

I highly recommend downloading one of Keeper’s desktop applications alongside its browser extension. This provides you with a more organized view of your encrypted vault and prevents any slowdown that could happen with your browser, especially if you anticipate accessing a ton of login credentials at any given time.

Currently, Keeper has dedicated desktop applications for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Consider Keeper’s paid add-ons

You should also check out Keeper’s secure add-ons, which are separate purchases to your Keeper membership that add extra functionality. Chief among these are Keeper’s BreachWatch and KeeperChat add-ons.

BreachWatch is Keeper’s take on dark web scanning, while KeeperChat is an encrypted messaging service that works with the Keeper Password Manager.

Maximize Keeper discounts for selected groups

Keeper provides generous discounts to people in the military, first responders, medical personnel, and students. In particular, Keeper offers a 50% discount for students and a 30% discount for military, first responders, nurses, doctors, and other medical personnel.

If you fall under any of these groups, I encourage you to avail of the discount and get a more affordable annual fee.

Set up two-factor authentication

To give your account an additional layer of protection, I suggest setting up Keeper’s 2FA capabilities. Toggling this on will have Keeper require you to provide an additional code or token to access your vault.

To access the 2FA menu, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Keeper web vault.
2. Click your email on the upper right.
3. Click Settings.
4. Select Security.
5. Click Two-Factor Authentication.

From there, you’ll be able to edit 2FA within Keeper, such as selecting which type of notification method you prefer.

Designate trusted contacts for emergencies

Selecting a trusted contact via Keeper’s Emergency Access feature is probably one of the best ways to maximize its capabilities — especially in case of emergencies.

This allows your loved ones to access your vault in the event you’re in an emergency situation and one of your credentials must be accessed.

To select a trusted contact, follow these steps:

1. Go to your Keeper web vault.
2. Click your email on the upper right.
3. Select Account.
4. Click on Emergency Access.
5. Select Trusted Users.

From there, you can designate five Keeper users as emergency contacts.

Do take note: if your chosen trusted contact is not an existing Keeper user, they will receive an email inviting them to create a Keeper account of their own. Only once they have their own account will they be able to accept your Trusted Users request.

Best ways to use Keeper for your business

Keeper comes with the core features we expect of a password manager — such as password generation, an encrypted vault, and emergency access. Aside from these, it also offers convenient features that can positively impact your business’ daily workflow.

Sharing passwords across teams

While many password managers offer password sharing, Keeper has a unique One-Time Share feature that lets users share passwords and limit access to only one device. This means that only the original recipient of the password can access it, preventing unwanted sharing of credentials with third parties.

This tool can be valuable for businesses that regularly work with freelancers or contractors and want a secure way to share login information. One-Time Share also allows sharing of records without requiring the recipient to create a Keeper account.

Monitoring overall password health

You can also use Keeper to assess the health of all your passwords through its Security Audit feature. Security Audit assesses the strength of each password and checks if it’s reused or weak, and provides details on how long it’s been since it was last changed.

This is a great way to monitor the overall health of your and your team’s account credentials and ensure no accounts are at risk of being hacked.

Quickly autofill regularly used logins

KeeperFill is Keeper’s primary autofill extension that allows users to quickly fill in saved logins in their regularly used apps. While many password managers offer autofill, KeeperFill stands out for its fast and reliable performance in replaying logins.

This is useful for businesses that use multiple online services or apps daily and don’t want to get bogged down by manually logging in.

SEE: SMB Security Pack (TechRepublic Premium)

Recommended alternative password managers

If Keeper isn’t a fit for you or your business, I recommend you give one of these password managers a try.

	Keeper	NordPass	1Password	Zoho Vault
Star rating (out of 5)	4.4 out of 5	4.6 out of 5	4.3 out of 5	3.9 out of 5
Starting price (annual)	$2.92 per month	$1.69 per month	$2.99 per month	$0.90 per user, per month
Free version	Mobile only; maximum of 10 passwords stored	Yes; unlimited passwords for 1 device at a time	No free version; 14-day free trial only	Yes; unlimited passwords for unlimited devices
Highlight feature	Discounts for students, military, medical personnel; One-Time share for secure password sharing to third parties	Utilizes future-proof XChaCha20 encryption; choice between 1 and 2-year plans	Modern and beginner-friendly user interface; Travel Mode to hide sensitive vaults while on the go	Password reports dashboard; Super audit feature for extensive monitoring

For people who want an all-around security solution, NordPass is a prime option. Users can purchase a bundle that includes Nord Security’s popular NordVPN service and the NordPass password manager. This ensures that you have a secured, encrypted internet connection, and password protection as well.

To learn more, read our full NordPass review.

Another option to consider is 1Password. 1Password is a great solution for frequent travelers as it comes with a unique Travel Mode feature. Travel Mode automatically removes passwords that you deem as not “safe for travel,” protecting your password from prying eyes when passing through immigration and customs.

To learn more, read our full 1Password review.

If you’re a manager who wants to keep track of shared credentials, Zoho Vault should be on your list. It has a real-time audit feature that lets users monitor every action carried out in an organization’s vault. This includes password requests, time stamps, and even user IP addresses.

To learn more, read our full Zoho Vault review.