How to Generate a Strong Passphrase With Bitwarden

“I need a strong password I can actually type” is a real problem—especially for a device or an account you can’t conveniently autofill. A randomly generated passphrase can help: it’s a string of unrelated words, rather than a sentence you came up with yourself.

You can try one with Bitwarden’s free passphrase generator. Pick a word count, generate a phrase privately, and save it somewhere secure. The screenshot below is a demonstration, not a password to copy. Never use a passphrase that’s appeared in a screenshot, article, video, or anyone else’s example.

Generate your own passphrase

1. On a trusted device, open the Bitwarden passphrase generator. You can use the public page without signing in.
2. Make sure Passphrase is selected. Use the Words slider to choose your length. Five or more randomly selected words is a practical starting point; CISA suggests five to seven unrelated words as one way to create a memorable passphrase.
3. Choose a word separator the destination accepts. Capitalization and a number are optional controls; use them if the account requires them.
4. Select Regenerate password to get a fresh phrase. Keep it private and use a different one for each account.
5. Save the new phrase in a trusted password manager before using it to change an account password. Follow that account’s change-password process and verify you can sign in before discarding any recovery information.

Check the resulting length too: CISA recommends passwords of at least 16 characters, as well as randomness and uniqueness. Some services impose length limits or reject certain characters. If yours does, adjust the generator to meet its rules, or use the password manager’s random-character generator instead. Don’t shorten a phrase so far that it becomes easy to guess.

Keep the useful part: randomness

Skip song lyrics, familiar sayings, names and phrases you’ve already used. The point is to let the generator pick unrelated words, then keep that result to yourself. A passphrase can be easier to type than a long string of random characters, but “memorable” doesn’t mean it should be predictable.

Don’t treat the site’s estimated crack time as a guarantee. An attacker’s methods and the circumstances of a breach can differ. A long, unique phrase and multifactor authentication where available provide layers of protection.

Where should it live?

For ordinary website logins, a password manager can generate, save and fill unique passwords for you. Bitwarden also provides a generator inside its apps and extensions, so you don’t have to use the public web page. Avoid shared or untrusted computers, and don’t paste real passwords into chats or screenshots.

If this is the password that unlocks your password manager, plan how you’ll remember it and recover access without relying only on the locked vault. Recovery options vary by service. Our 1Password recovery guide walks through one example.

How we checked: We opened Bitwarden’s public generator and regenerated a disposable example shown above. We didn’t change an account password or test account recovery. The featured image also shows Bitwarden’s interface and is credited to Bitwarden.