Bitwarden Not Asking To Save Password [7 Quick Ways To Fix]

Are you looking for a fix to Bitwarden not asking to save passwords? If so, you have come to the right place.

As a long-time Bitwarden user, I have faced the same issue and came around with fixes and workarounds. So I will show you how to do the same.

Before that, What is the Bitwarden autosave login feature?

Keep reading the whole post to learn more.

Why Is Bitwarden Not Asking To Save Password?

Bitwarden is not asking to save passwords mainly because the software cannot detect the signup or login entries at all times. Also, Bitwarden wants you to save the password in Bitwarden first before entering them into a website, opposite of the save password feature.

Bitwarden is an open-source password manager which is free for personal use. It has recently gathered an enormous user base after popular password managers cut down their features for the free tier.

Bitwarden is sleek, easy, and intuitive to use, and the security is top-notch. However, there are some design/architectural elements of Bitwarden different from the rest of the password managers.

One such difference in design is the way Bitwarden interacts with the passwords.

Bitwarden is designed so that you save the login credentials into Bitwarden first. Then, you can use the auto-fill feature to fill out the signup form on a website and ultimately register the new account.

The process is different from the usual way of filling out the signup form first, then saving it into the password manager.

The upside of the Bitwarden design is that it is error-free, and there will not be any problem if there is any server issue or your PC stops working during the process.

As you are saving the credentials into the password manager first, you will have the information with you no matter what happens. The downside of the Bitwarden process is it’s the complete opposite of what people are used to. Most people fill-up the form first, then think about saving it, not the other way around.

Besides, there will be strict conditions on some websites’ usernames or passwords. In such cases, saving the credentials beforehand will likely cause conflicts. Though Bitwarden’s design is more fool-proof, the popular method is more intuitive, and other password managers can work with it quite well.

Despite the architectural difference, Bitwarden has an autosave feature that should work. If it doesn’t, the most likely cause is its inability to detect the signup forms or the fields correctly. Besides, the in-browser password manager might cause conflict with the Bitwarden autosave feature. Other than that, Bitwarden might turn off the autosave feature.

How To Fix Bitwarden Not Asking To Save Password

If Bitwarden is not prompting you to save your password, you can take some easy steps to fix them.

There is also an easy workaround to avoid the issue.

Here are the steps to fix Bitwarden not asking to save passwords:

1. Turn off Disable Add Login Notification

Even though the Add Login Notification feature might be enabled for you, sometimes re-enabling it fixes the issue.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to Settings from the Bitwarden extension or app.
2. Scroll down and go to Options.
3. Tick the Disable Add Login Notification.
4. Untick the Disable the Add Login Notification.

Now you can test to see if it fixed the issue.

2. Disable Auto-fill on Page Load

The Auto-fill on Page Load is a relatively new feature, and it is still in beta. So enabling the feature might cause various issues.

There is a bug in Bitwarden which conflicts with the Auto-Save Password feature when Auto-fill on Page Load is turned on.

So, do the following:

1. Open Bitwarden app or extension.
2. Go to the Settings tab.
3. Go to Options.
4. Scroll down and find Enable Auto-fill on the Page Load option.
5. Uncheck it.
6. Restart the Bitwarden app or extension.

Now check to see if the problem still persists.

3. Turn on Changed Password Notifications

There is an option in Bitwarden named ‘Disable Changed Password Notifications’. Turning this option on will disable the prompts when you change the password on any website.

So here’s how to fix it:

1. Open Bitwarden extension/app.
2. Go to the Settings tab.
3. Go to Options.
4. Find Disable Changed Password Notifications option.
5. Untick the checkbox.
6. Restart Bitwarden extension/app.

If you try to update the password on any website, it should prompt you to save it.

4. Disable your browser’s default password manager

Every modern browser comes with its password manager or auto-fill feature. It might be possible that the browser’s auto-fill feature conflicts with the Bitwarden Auto Save function.

Here’s how you can disable the browser auto-fill feature:

1. Open the browser.
2. Go to Settings or Preferences.
3. Go to the Auto-fill option.
4. Find and disable password auto-fill, ask to save passwords, and auto sign-in.
5. Restart browser.

Now you can do a test sign-up to check if it resolved the issue.

5. Update Bitwarden client

Bitwarden is constantly updating the client software with new and improved features. Significantly, Bitwarden is improving auto-detection quality and adding more robust support for Auto-Save and Auto-fill features.

So you might want to make sure your Bitwarden client is always up-to-date. Bitwarden clients should update automatically, but if you’re going to double-check, you can visit Bitwarden release notes from their official website.

6. Enter credentials into Bitwarden first

As I have said above, Bitwarden designed the software such that you enter the credentials into Bitwarden first and save them. Then, you can sign up or log in to websites using the auto-fill feature.

Here’s how you achieve it:

1. Go to a sign-up page or login form.
2. Open Bitwarden.
3. Click on Add a login.
4. Enter email/username and generate a password. The URI should be detected automatically since you are on the login/signup page.
5. Save the entry. Now Bitwarden will suggest the entry you have just created for the current webpage.
6. Apply the credentials from Bitwarden and signup or log in.

This way, you can be 100% sure your credentials get saved to Bitwarden.

7. Reinstall Bitwarden

You can reinstall the Bitwarden extension or the app as a last resort.

Uninstall Bitwarden from the apps list if you are using the app. If you use the browser extension, you can uninstall it from the extension menu.

Then, you can install the extension/app again from the web store or the application store. You can also download it directly from the Bitwarden website.

What To Do If Bitwarden Does Not Ask To Save Password?

If Bitwarden does not ask to save passwords, you can try to save the credentials into Bitwarden first, which is their preferred way of using Bitwarden. Otherwise, you can use the password generator history to retrieve the latest password used during account creation.

Bitwarden is one of the most popular password managers right now. Though it started its journey later than other popular password managers, it reached the top spot quickly with its open-source recognition and robust security.

Bitwarden has its way of using the password manager. Bitwarden is designed to work with its preferred method of saving credentials.

Usually, people fill out the sign-up form, and then on submission, password managers ask to save the credentials. That’s how most people use password managers.

However, Bitwarden advises people to save the credentials into Bitwarden first, then use the auto-fill feature to put it into the signup or login forms.

Bitwarden reasons that this method is fool-proof and less error-prone. You don’t have to worry about a server time-out during signup form submission, and you will not have duplicate entries in the password manager.

Even though most password managers can capture the credentials from the signup form roughly 80% or more of the time, there remains some chance for error.

But, if you do it the Bitwarden way, then there is almost no chance of errors.

That’s one of the reasons why Bitwarden is lagging in terms of auto-detection compared to its competitors. It expects its users to do it the other way.

However, even if you have signed up on the website before creating an entry in Bitwarden, there is still a way to save it later.

You can open Bitwarden and go to the password generator tab. Here, you will see an option for password generator history. You can retrieve the latest password from here and create an entry manually in Bitwarden.

So, even though Bitwarden didn’t ask you to save the password, you can retrieve it and manually create an entry in Bitwarden later.

FAQ

Question: Does Bitwarden ask to save passwords?

Answer: Yes, Bitwarden asks to save passwords provided that the option is turned on in the settings.

Question: Does Bitwarden auto save passwords?

Answer: Yes, Bitwarden auto saves passwords even though it is less efficient than other password managers. Bitwarden prefers you save the entry into Bitwarden first.

Question: Which is better Bitwarden or LastPass?

Answer: Bitwarden is open source, has robust security, and the free tier is pretty flexible. LastPass is proprietary, and the free option is minimal, but auto-fill and autosave works better than Bitwarden.

Final Thoughts

Bitwarden is an excellent software that lets you store and manage passwords.

Like most password managers, Bitwarden has an auto-fill and autosave password feature. However, it is not as efficient as others.

The reason is that Bitwarden prefers the user to save the entry manually into Bitwarden first before submitting the form.

But even then, there are ways you can fix the issue or take some steps to retrieve the password from history.