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I can close the master password popup without having to type in my master password

luuk89
luuk89
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I have only recently setup a master password. I realized that my saved pws form quiet a big security risk. Anyways I thought it was working pretty well for the first week, I had to type in the masterpw every time I open firefox. But today I accidentally closed the masterpw popup and it didn't matter. I was still able to use my firefox browser. I tested this a couple of times, closing FF and opening again. It asks for masterpw, and I can just close the window and continue browsing and also access all my websites which are still logged in (like my gmail for example). Is this normal behavior? However it does seem like the masterpw is not completely useless; I also tried viewing all my saved passwords in the privacy/security settings, it will again ask for masterpw, but closing the popup window in this scenario luckily does not work.

2 other things I noticed concerning masterpws: - The popup window has a big delay opening when you open the browser(about 5-10sec) - Masterpassword would not sync with my firefox android. I have enabled syncing options, but still I had to manually setup my masterpw on 2 computers and my android phone..

I have only recently setup a master password. I realized that my saved pws form quiet a big security risk. Anyways I thought it was working pretty well for the first week, I had to type in the masterpw every time I open firefox. But today I accidentally closed the masterpw popup and it didn't matter. I was still able to use my firefox browser. I tested this a couple of times, closing FF and opening again. It asks for masterpw, and I can just close the window and continue browsing and also access all my websites which are still logged in (like my gmail for example). Is this normal behavior? However it does seem like the masterpw is not completely useless; I also tried viewing all my saved passwords in the privacy/security settings, it will again ask for masterpw, but closing the popup window in this scenario luckily does not work. 2 other things I noticed concerning masterpws: - The popup window has a big delay opening when you open the browser(about 5-10sec) - Masterpassword would not sync with my firefox android. I have enabled syncing options, but still I had to manually setup my masterpw on 2 computers and my android phone..

Chosen solution

Hi luuk89, the Master Password is used to encrypt your saved logins in the logins.json file in your current Firefox profile. You don't need to provide the Master Password until you want to log in to a site or service (like Firefox Sync) using a saved login.

Your discoveries are correct:

  • The Master Password does not affect normal browsing.
  • If you have a continuing session on a web server and Firefox still has the cookie for that session, you won't need to use a saved login because you are already "in" as far as the site is concerned. And therefore you won't be prompted for the Master Password.
  • The Master Password is a purely local feature that does not Sync.
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jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

Hi luuk89, the Master Password is used to encrypt your saved logins in the logins.json file in your current Firefox profile. You don't need to provide the Master Password until you want to log in to a site or service (like Firefox Sync) using a saved login.

Your discoveries are correct:

  • The Master Password does not affect normal browsing.
  • If you have a continuing session on a web server and Firefox still has the cookie for that session, you won't need to use a saved login because you are already "in" as far as the site is concerned. And therefore you won't be prompted for the Master Password.
  • The Master Password is a purely local feature that does not Sync.