LastPass has a free level, and this helped him become one of the most popular password managers around. But this free level now has some major limitations.
Starting March 16, free LastPass users will no longer be able to use their phone password manager and laptop. You will need to choose a device type.
The free LastPass plan now has two options:
- Desktop only: If you choose the desktop option, you can only access your data from any Mac, Windows, or Linux computer that includes desktop PCs or laptops.
- Mobile only: If you choose your mobile phone, you can only access your data from an iPhone, iPad or Android phone / device (such as a Samsung Galaxy phone).
What you will not be able to do is use LastPass for free on your computer and phone. This won’t work for many people, which means it’s time to switch to a paid plan ($ 36 per year for a single user, $ 48 per year for families) or move your data elsewhere.
There are several other password services that we consider better than LastPass and one of them is also free. If you want to switch, take a look at our updated Guide for the best password managers. Once you’ve decided where you want to get your passwords, you’ll need to export your LastPass data and import it into the new service.
How to export your LastPass data
LastPass has two export options: a CSV file or an encrypted file. If you switch to any of the services in our guide, CSV is the option to use.
It is important to note that CSV is a plain text file, which means that this file we are going to export will have all the password data unencrypted in plain text. Be very careful with this export file. I suggest you export to your desktop or laptop using your browser extension, but only on a network you trust. After importing this data into the new password manager, be sure to delete the plain text file.
The easiest way to extract your data is the LastPass web browser extension, which you can get from the LastPass website. After installing the browser extension, click the browser toolbar button to open the LastPass menu. Click on Account options, then Advanced, then Export. Then you should see an option called “LastPass CSV File”. Click that link and your web browser will save the resulting file to your hard drive.
If you’re on a phone or tablet (or you’ve already chosen your mobile plan), you’ll need to use lastpass.com. Take care. Many browsers will not automatically download the generated file. To use the site, sign in to your account and expand the menu in the left sidebar and click Advanced options menu item. Then click Export , enter your master password and click send. This will then open a CSV file in your browser. Some browsers will automatically download this file. If yours is not, select them all and copy them. Then open Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (MacOS) and paste the CSV data. Select File> Save As in Notepad or TextEdit and enter a name with the .csv extension at the end. Make sure you save it as plain text (not rich text).