In the stable version of Google Chrome 41, they found an opportunity to hide your profile from prying eyes by locking it with a password. In fact, we have talked about such experiments before, but so much time has passed that we will tell everything again.
You should already be familiar with the new profile switching manager. It appeared relatively recently and was deservedly criticized by many users, for whom it is very important to quickly switch between different profiles. Now it doesn’t work quickly because an additional window opens. Such a step is only puzzling, given that at one time the Google Chrome developers specifically abandoned all additional windows in favor of tabs. And then suddenly there was a 180 degree turn. But that's not what this is about...
If you want to prevent your user from being launched in this window, you must create at least one controlled user. We also talked about them, but let us remind you that this is a type of profile where its settings are actually controlled from the outside. Simply put, a “child” profile that can be managed by a “parent” (regular) one. It's easy to create. You need to add a user from a regular profile synchronized with Google and check one single box.
It is logical that the “parent” settings need to be protected from “children”, so now you will have an item in your profile menu responsible for logging out and blocking.
Nothing complicated.
But! Never forget that such “password protection” only blocks the browser from launching with your data and settings. This will do nothing to protect the physical profile folder located on your hard drive. Any program or any user with physical access to the computer can access this data. By the way, encrypted passwords for sites that you store in your browser are also easy to decrypt and retrieve, because the key is stored locally. Therefore, this method will not save you from hackers and third-party software. But it will completely help protect your profile from sabotage from children, wives, parents, and drunken friends.
Most browsers today provide the user with the ability to remember passwords for accounts on sites they visit. On the one hand, this is convenient, because there is no need to remember and enter passwords for web authentication every time, but on the other hand, the risk of compromising all passwords at once increases. This is one reason to think about additional browser protection. A browser password can be useful even for those users who do not save passwords in the browser, because such protection will help protect settings, bookmarks and browsing history from prying eyes and accidental deletion. This is the second reason. Finally, blocking is useful for those who have small children. Such a “block” is the easiest way to protect curious children’s eyes from the dangers of the global Internet.
The first method described is protecting access to saved passwords. Unlike various password managers, Chrome does not allow you to set a master password to access the authentication database. Instead, the function of viewing saved data is protected by requiring you to re-enter your system account password. To enable Chrome integration with your operating system, do the following:
Protecting Browser Settings
Chrome also gives you the ability to block access to browser settings, and each computer user (useful if you're not the only one using the computer) can save their settings separately from others. You can do it like this:
Password to launch Google Chrome browser
The third method of blocking, which may be easier for an untrained user, is to install the LockPW extension. This is done like this:
It should be noted, however, that none of the described methods provides absolute protection; the profile data on the local disk is not encrypted in any way and can be relatively easily read if you have physical access to the computer, especially under an administrative account. Much better protection is provided by specialized, strong cryptographic mechanisms. But browser-level protection can still be useful in cases where the information on the computer is not particularly sensitive, and it has to be protected from not particularly qualified users.
Let's look at how to set a password on the Google Chrome browser to prevent others from gaining access to your data (cookies and website passwords).
If someone else uses your laptop or computer, then this user can view bookmarks, browser history, mail, log into social network accounts (if you are logged in, you are not logged out, or passwords are saved in the browser).
This is an unpleasant situation, especially if the laptop is lost and a stranger uses it. The solution to this situation is to set a password to log into the browser.
Google Chrome Password
The Google Chrome browser supports a convenient user profile management system. This system allows each user profile to have its own isolated passwords from sites, bookmarks, browser history and other elements. The installed Chrome already has one user profile, even if you have not started synchronization with your Google account.
In this tutorial, we'll take a closer look at how to set Chrome user profiles to require a password and be able to manage all individual profiles. There are users in Google Chrome without a Google account, but subsequent actions require that the main user has such an account and is logged into the browser under it.
Enable password request
In the profile management system we are considering (version 57), there is no option to set a password for Chrome, but in the browser settings there is a function that allows you to activate the new profile management system. This will ensure the desired result.
We perform the following procedure:
- Enter chrome://flags/#enable-new-profile-management in the address bar of the browser, and in the “New profile management system” menu set it to “Enabled”. Then click on the “Restart” button located inside the page.
- Go to Google Chrome settings.
- In the “Users” menu, click on “Add user”.
- We set the username and check the section “Browse sites opened by this...” (if this item is not there, then you are not logged into Chrome using your Google account). You can also leave a checkmark to create a separate shortcut for a new profile that will launch without a password. Click “Next”, and then select “OK” when a message is displayed indicating the successful creation of a controlled profile.
- The list of profiles will look something like the one in the screenshot below.
- Now, to block your profile with a password and block access to personal data, click on your own username in the Chrome window header and select the “Log out and block” section.
- As a result, you will be able to see the login window for Chrome profiles, and a password will be set on the main user profile. This window will be shown every time you launch Google Chrome.
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The profile created in points 3 - 4 of the above instructions will allow you to use the browser without access to your personal data, which is located in another profile. If you wish, you can log into Chrome with your own password, click on “Profile Control Panel” in the settings and set restrictions and permissions for the new user (for example, permission to open only certain sites), study his activity (which sites he went to), activate notifications about the activities of this user.
Many users are wondering how to set a password for their browser. Some are inclined to believe that such a question is excessive suspiciousness. However, if you think sensibly, you understand that this is by no means excessive suspiciousness, but, on the contrary, a very reasonable approach.
The fact is that modern browsers are equipped with the option of saving passwords from users’ personal accounts to a particular portal. Most users happily use this option, and they only have to enter the password once when registering on a new site, and then the browser “enters” it on its own. This is, of course, definitely convenient.
However, what happens if someone steals your PC (or simply decides to use it in your absence) and there is no password on your browser? An attacker can easily enter any of your personal accounts and perform various actions on your behalf. Of course, if we are talking about some forum, then this is not very scary, the maximum that you face is a ban, but what if you allowed the browser to remember the e-wallet password? In such a situation, everything becomes much sadder.
That's why you need to set a password for your browser. In this article we will tell you how to set a password on Google Chrome.
How to set a password for the Google Chrome browser using the Settings menu?
In order to set a password for Google Chrome using the “Settings” menu, you will first need to create your own Google account, or, more simply, a personal email account on the Gmail service - registration link. However, it is not at all difficult and will only take a couple of minutes.
When the account is created, follow the steps of the following instructions:
1. Open the browser, log into the created Google account - our personal profile in the browser is automatically activated upon login - we don’t notice this, but we shouldn’t focus on this for now.
2. Click the button in the form of three horizontal lines in the upper right corner of the browser, select “Settings”.
4. Now our task is to create a controlled profile - the profile that everyone except you will use when working with the browser: your passwords, history and downloads will be remembered only in your personal profile, nothing will be transferred to the controlled profile.
5. In the “Users” section, click the “Add user” button.
6. Select an avatar and name, click the “Add” button (it is recommended to leave the checkboxes in both windows, but, of course, you can remove them if you wish).
7. We have created a “Guest” profile - click on the “Switch to Guest profile” button, a new browser window will open in front of you - in the upper right corner you will see “Guest (controlled profile)”.
8. Now let’s return to the previous window - there in the same place we will see the name of our profile, in our case “Ekaterina”, click on it and see that we have a new option “Log out and block”, click on it.
9. A window appears in front of us from which you can log into the browser through two profiles - personal and guest, however, you can log into your personal profile only if you know the password. You may be wondering what password we are talking about; we didn’t set any passwords. And we remind you that, of course, we set it when we created a Google account - yes, the passwords for mail and browser are identical, so feel free to enter the password for your Google account and press “Enter”.
Helpful advice! A controlled profile can be customized - go to the “Settings” menu of the browser, the “Users” section and click the “Profile Control Panel” link. As you can see, there is even the ability to restrict access to certain resources - this is very convenient if you need to set up a child’s profile. To delete a profile, simply click on the “trash” icon.
How to set a password on Google Chrome browser using LockWP?
If the above method seemed too complicated to you, don’t worry, there is a simpler answer to the question of how to set a password on Google Chrome. The official store of Google Chrome extensions will help us - applications created specifically for this browser and allowing it to be equipped with certain additional options.
In this very store you can find a number of programs for setting a password. However, most of them will only have an English-language interface, however, there is one high-quality, convenient and Russified application for setting a browser password from Google - this LockWP.
How to set a password on the Google Chrome browser using LockPW? Let's look at it step by step:
1. Go to the official browser application store - link.
2. In the search bar, enter the name of the application you are looking for – LockPW and press “Enter”.
3. We look at the search results, opposite LockPW we press the “Install” button (you may note that the search gave us other applications similar in functionality to LockPW, however, as we said above, their interface is English, and the ratings are lower) .
4. After installation, a welcome window for the extension will appear in front of us, which will notify us that without configuration it will not be able to work, click “OK” in it to begin configuration.
5. Now we execute the browser “commands” - click on the “chrome://extensions” button.
6. In the window that opens, check the box next to “Allow use in incognito mode.”
7. After checking the box, we will be automatically transferred to the information window, here you can study the instructions for your system (to change the system, use the corresponding button), alternately clicking on one or another section, or you can simply click “Next”.
Important! When setting up, the developers also advise activating all three “sliders” on the right side of the settings (see screenshot above). The first will block the browser if a password is not entered within 30 seconds (the time period can be changed), the second will automatically close the browser if the password is entered incorrectly, the third will not allow an attacker to terminate the application using the task manager and other similar programs, bypassing thus, his protection. You can also set a limit on the number of login attempts.
9. After setting all the settings, click the save button (see screenshot above).
10. Now we close the browser and open it again, the LockPW window appears in front of us, in which we must enter the password and click “Login”. That's all!
If you need to disable the password, open Google Chrome, click the button in the form of three horizontal lines, click “Additional tools”, then “Extensions”.
A settings window will appear in front of you, you don’t need to enter anything, you just need to click on the “Disable” button and the browser will notify you that the password has been disabled.
Helpful advice! If you need to step away from your PC for a short time - for example, you are at work and want to step away from your computer, but you do not want anyone to access the browser in your absence, you can use the convenient LockPW option. On any browser page, right-click and click “LockPW” (the item automatically appears in the menu if extension protection is activated) - the browser will minimize and a password entry window will appear.
Results
So, now you know how to set a password for Google Chrome, and we also hope you understand how important it is to use this option, because it will not only protect you, for example, from the idle curiosity of colleagues who suddenly wanted to look into your browser while you moved away, but will also save you from intruders. In addition, a browser password is an excellent means of protecting children from accessing the Internet!
If several users use the same account at once, it is very important to protect personal data from being viewed by unwanted persons. So, if you want to protect your browser and the information received in it from detailed study by other computer users, then it is rational to set a password on it.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to set a password on Google Chrome using standard Windows tools. Below we will look at a fairly simple and convenient way to set a password, which only requires installing a small third-party tool.
To set a password, we will turn to the help of a browser add-on LockPW , which is a free, simple and effective way to protect your web browser from being used by people for whom the information in Google Chrome is not intended.
1. Go to the add-on download page in your Google Chrome browser LockPW , and then install the tool by clicking on the button "Install" .
2. After completing the installation of the add-on, you need to proceed to its configuration. To do this, as soon as the tool is installed in the browser, the add-on configuration page will be displayed on the screen, in which you will need to click on the button "chrome://extensions" . You can get to this menu item yourself if you click on the browser menu button, and then go to the section “Additional tools” – “Extensions” .
3. When the add-ons management page loads on the screen, immediately under the LockPW extension, check the box next to "Allow use in incognito mode" .
4. Now you can proceed to setting up the add-on. In the same extension management window near our add-on, click on the button "Options" .
5. In the right area of the window that opens, you will need to enter the password for Google Chrome twice, and in the third line provide a hint in case the password is forgotten. After this, click on the button "Save" .
6. From now on, browser password protection is enabled. Thus, if you close the browser and then try to open it again, you will be required to enter a password, without which it will be impossible to launch the web browser. But that's not all the LockPW add-on settings. If you pay attention to the left area of the window, you will see additional menu items. We will consider the most interesting:
- Automatic blocking. After activating this item, you will be asked to specify the time in seconds, after which the browser will be automatically blocked and a new password will be required (of course, only the browser idle time is taken into account).
- Quick presses. By enabling this option, you can use the simple keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+L to quickly block the browser. For example, you need to step away for a while. Then, by pressing this combination, no stranger will gain access to your browser.
- Limiting input attempts. An effective way to protect information. If an unwanted person incorrectly enters the Chrome password a specified number of times, an action you set will take place - this could be deleting history, automatically closing the browser, or saving a new profile in incognito mode.
The very principle of LockPW operation is as follows: you launch the browser, the Google Chrome browser is displayed on the computer screen, but a small window immediately appears on top of it, prompting you to enter a password. Naturally, until the password is specified correctly, further use of the web browser is not possible. If you do not specify a password for some time or completely minimize the browser (go to another application on your computer), the browser will automatically close.
LockPW is a great tool to protect your Google Chrome browser with a password. With its help, you don't have to worry that your history and other information accumulated by the browser will be viewed by unwanted persons.
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