If you’ve been keeping up with the latest Microsoft news, you’ll know that the company has been hard at work making Microsoft Edge a major competitor in the browser market. If you want to give it a spin but don’t want to leave all your passwords behind, you can easily import them. Should you not like the new Edge, just export them back! Read on to learn how to import and export passwords using Microsoft Edge.
How to Import Passwords into Microsoft Edge
Importing passwords into Microsoft Edge is extremely easy once you learn how. You don’t even need to export passwords from your old browser; Microsoft Edge will detect the browsers installed on your system and let you import from the browser of your choice.
If you want to import a password manager’s vault into Edge, see if you can install the manager via the Edge add-ons store. If you can, you should be able to log in to your account and carry your passwords over.
Importing Passwords from a Browser
To get started, boot up Microsoft Edge and click the three dots at the top right. Then, click “Settings.”
You may be tempted to click the “Passwords” setting on this page, but you shouldn’t until the end! Instead, go a little below Passwords and click on “Import browser data.” Choose the browser you want to import the passwords from.
In the top menu, select the browser from which you wish to import. Then, if you have multiple profiles on that browser, you can then select which profile will be used to grab your passwords. Once you’ve set up both, ensure the checkbox labeled “Saved Passwords” is checked.
When you check it, you’ll see a little warning notice appear to the right. This is warning you that any passwords you have saved already will be overwritten by the imported data. As such, if you changed an account password in Edge, it will be overwritten by the old details during the import.
Once you’re ready, scroll down and click “Import.” You will see a success message: “All done! We’ve brought your data over.”
Click the “Passwords” setting on the Settings page. It may take a restart for all your passwords to show up.
How to Import Passwords from CSV Files to Microsoft Edge
Using the steps above, you can easily import your passwords from your desktop or a password manager in .csv format into Edge. Just choose the option “Passwords CSV file” from the “Import from” drop-down menu in “Import browser data.” This will take you to the pop-up shown below.
From the pop-up screen, choose the .csv file containing the passwords on your system. You should now see a success message: “All done! We’ve brought your data over.”
You can also import passwords in a .csv using an Edge flag which is an experimental feature on the browser. To use the flags, enter the following URL edge://flags to the address bar on your Edge browser.
Search using the keyword “password,” and you will find a flag called password import, which has to be enabled. You can also access it with the URL edge://flags/#PasswordImport on your Edge address bar.
Once this flag is enabled, you can directly import passwords in Edge. The changes will take place after a system restart.
How to Export Passwords from Microsoft Edge
If the new Edge browser isn’t to your liking and you want to migrate back, you can export your passwords from Edge. That way, you can then import them to the next browser you use so that you don’t lose any data.
To do this, go back to the settings page. While we avoided the Password page before, we can now go into it to export our passwords.
Next to the words “Saved passwords,” click the three dots. Note that if you use dark mode on Edge, the grey background may make it hard to see the dots. Hover your mouse underneath the toggles until you find it.
Click “Export passwords.”
You will be shown a warning dialog screen that “your passwords will be visible to anyone who can see the exported file.” Click “export passwords” to ignore the message and proceed.
Some users may have to enter their Windows PIN code before exporting their passwords. Otherwise, you can easily save a CSV file containing all your passwords and import it to any browser or device.
Just be sure to delete the file once the import is done, else other people with access to your device can easily open the .csv file to see your passwords.
Microsoft has made it easy to import and export your passwords in Microsoft Edge. You can also use it to take webpage screenshots. Don’t forget to check out our test on Microsoft Edge’s suitability for Mac
Sayak Boral is a technology writer with over eleven years of experience working in different industries including semiconductors, IoT, enterprise IT, telecommunications OSS/BSS, and network security. He has been writing for MakeTechEasier on a wide range of technical topics including Windows, Android, Internet, Hardware Guides, Browsers, Software Tools, and Product Reviews.
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