KeePassXC User Guide

By the time you've read this, I think you've pretty much figured out what a password manager is. However, for those unfamiliar with the concept, it's worth explaining. Nowadays, when using various online services, more established platforms require you to register and set a strong password. Examples include Google, Weibo, Twitter, Instagram, and even gaming platforms. Over time, most people end up using the same account and password for everything. This leads to two problems: 1. Your username might already be registered on a particular platform; 2. If your account on a particular platform is compromised for unknown reasons, affecting all platforms, even a pianist would tire of changing it individually.

Due to this widespread need, password managers, such as 1Password and KeePass, emerged. Each service maintains a unique account and password, which is encrypted and managed. 1Password is a paid app, and KeePass doesn't seem to be very active. If you want more features without paying, KeePassXC is a good choice. It's a modern, secure, and open-source password manager that stores and manages your most sensitive information. It's cross-platform and supports Windows, macOS, and Linux, and is very easy to install and use.

Installation

For Windows and macOS, simply search the official website, find the download link, unzip, and install.

The following mainly describes the manual installation method for Linux (feel free to skip):

• Github release page Download the source code, unzip it, and change to the target directory:

1. Install the C++ toolset and dependent packages on Ubuntu (reference link: https://github.com/keepassxreboot/keepassxc/wiki/Set-up-Build-Environment-on-Linux)

• C++ toolset

1sudo apt install build-essential cmake g++

• Dependency packages

1sudo apt install qtbase5-dev qtbase5-private-dev qttools5-dev qttools5-dev-tools \
2libqt5svg5-dev libargon2-dev libminizip-dev libbotan-2-dev libqrencode-dev \
3zlib1g-dev asciidoctor libreadline-dev libpcsclite-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev \
4libxi-dev libxtst-dev libqt5x11extras5-dev

2. Compile (To speed up compilation, use make -j num, where num is the number of CPU cores on your system)

1mkdir build
2cd build
3cmake -DWITH_XC_ALL=ON ..
4make

3. Install

1sudo make install

The above three steps are standard for manually installing software on a Linux system. Some may ask how to launch the software after installation. If you don't want to manually create a launcher, I recommend running sudo apt install keepassxc first to let the package manager automatically generate a launcher (the same one you'd see with desktoop). file), then compile and install. This is very convenient, and you can install any version you want. An example is as follows:

 1➜ cat /usr/local/share/applications/org.keepassxc.KeePassXC.desktop
 2[Desktop Entry]
 3Name=KeePassXC
 4GenericName=Password Manager
 5GenericName[ar]=مدير كلمات المرور
 6GenericName[bg]=Мениджър на пароли
 7GenericName[ca]=Gestor de contrasenyes
 8GenericName[cs]=Aplikace pro správu hesel
 9GenericName[da]=Adgangskodehåndtering
10GenericName[de]=Passwortverwaltung
11GenericName[es]=Gestor de contraseñas
12GenericName[et]=Paroolihaldur
13GenericName[fi]=Salasanamanageri
14GenericName[fr]=Gestionnaire de mot de passe
15GenericName[hu]=Jelszókezelő
16GenericName[id]=Pengelola Sandi
17GenericName[it]=Gestione password
18GenericName[ja]=パスワードマネージャー
19GenericName[ko]=암호 관리자
20GenericName[lt]=Slaptažodžių tvarkytuvė
21GenericName[nb]=Passordhåndterer
22GenericName[nl]=Wachtwoordbeheer
23GenericName[pl]=Menedżer haseł
24GenericName[pt_BR]=Gerenciador de Senhas
25GenericName[pt]=Gestor de palavras-passe
26GenericName[ro]=Manager de parole
27GenericName[ru]=Менеджер паролей
28GenericName[sk]=Správca hesiel
29GenericName[sv]=Lösenordshanterare
30GenericName[th]=แอพจัดการรหัสผ่าน
31GenericName[tr]=Parola yöneticicisi
32GenericName[uk]=Розпорядник паролів
33GenericName[zh_CN]=Password Manager
34GenericName[zh_TW]=Password Manager
35Comment=Community-driven port of the Windows application “KeePass Password Safe”
36Comment[da]=Fællesskabsdrevet port af Windows-programmet “KeePass Password Safe”
37Comment[et]=Kogukonna arendatav port Windowsi programmist KeePass Password Safe
38Comment[ru]=Разработанный сообществом порт Windows-приложения KeePass Password Safe
39Exec=keepassxc %f
40TryExec=keepassxc
41Icon=keepassxc
42StartupWMClass=keepassxc
43StartupNotify=true
44Terminal=false
45Type=Application
46Version=1.0
47Categories=Utility;Security;Qt;
48MimeType=application/x-keepass2;

Daily Use

For details, see (https://keepassxc.org/docs/KeePassXC_GettingStarted.html)

1. After running the software, create a database file. Follow the instructions to fill in the database file name, encryption settings, and a password. Finally, select a save path. If you're unsure, leave the default. This database file is encrypted and can be backed up locally or to various cloud storage locations (assuming you trust them). Without your password, it's useless to someone who gets access to the database file. It's much more reliable than storing it in various txt or spreadsheet files.

2. Add entries manually

• Interface overview

• (A) Groups (directory tree) Groups - Organize your entries into discrete groups to bring order to all of your sensitive information. Groups can be nested under each other to create a hierarchy. Settings from parent groups get applied to their children. You can hide this panel on the View menu.

• (B) Tags (easy to filter) Tags - Dynamic groups of entries that can be quickly displayed with one click. Any number of custom tags can be added when editing an entry. This panel also includes useful pre-defined searches, such as finding expired and weak passwords.

• (C) Entries - Entries contain all the information you want to store for a website or application you are storing in KeePassXC. This view shows all the entries in the selected group. Each column can be resized, reordered, and shown or hidden based on your preference. Right-click the header row to see all available options.

• (D) Preview - Shows a preview of the selected group or entry. You can temporarily hide this preview using the close button on the right-hand side or completely disable it in the application settings.

• Add an entry

Fill in the title, username, password, access path, tags, notes, and save. The download button to the far right of the URL will download the website's favicon for easy identification. Very user-friendly, isn't it?

3. Batch Import

Most people use Chrome these days. Open the browser: chrome://settings/passwords

• Export the password file. The saved file will be a .csv file. It's recommended to delete the first row of the title page:

 1➜ cat Chrome\ Passwords.csv
 2name, url, username, password
 310.193.150.238, http://10.193.150.238:5601/login, admin, xxx-password
 4
 5- Select the CSV file to import.
 6
 7![keepassxc import](/images/keepassxc_import.webp)
 8
 9- Set the correct mappings as shown in the image. Leave the group blank and assign the URL to column 2 (**This step is critical**; otherwise, the default URL column will be incorrect).
10
11![keepassxc csv](/images/keepassxc_csv_item_set.webp)
12
13- Merge the databases (After importing the above steps, a new database will be created by default. This is probably to ensure the software doesn't affect the old database!). Therefore, it's best to back up the old database first. After confirming that the new database contains all the items to be imported, merge the databases as shown in the image below. You're done!
14
15![keepassxc database](/images/keepassxc_merge_database.webp)
16
174. Using the Browser Plugin
18
19- Select the settings as shown below.
20
21![keepassxc browser](/images/keepassxc_browser_set.webp)
22
23- Install the browser plugin (click the corresponding link in the image above to download and install the plugin for your browser).
24
25- Test the browser by logging in to https://www.oschina.net/home/login, switching to the password login screen, and clicking the keepassxc browser plugin button (note that you must first open KeePassXC and unlock the database). If you receive a connection error, refresh the page. The software will automatically match the target entry and automatically fill in the account and password information. It's incredibly convenient.
26
27![keepassxc login](/images/keepassxc_browser_login.webp)
28
29The above are the core features of KeePassXC, which meet common usage scenarios. Readers can continue to learn, optimize and adjust according to their own needs to make it fit their own usage habits.