I've been using Firefox for years and I've let the browser remember most of my passwords. So it makes my life easier, but I'm wondering if it's really a good idea security-wise. If someone gets access to my PC, can they grab all of them in two seconds? How do you guys handle it?
The solution is to use Firefox's "Primary Password" (or "Master Password" depending on your version). Once you enable it, all your stored passwords are encrypted and locked behind this main password. Without knowing it, someone else can't access them even if they have access to your PC. It's really the basics for securing this stuff.
To enable it it's simple: you go to Settings > Privacy & Security, you look for the "Logins and Passwords" section, and you check the option to set up a primary password. Just make sure it's something solid, like not "123456" or your cat's name. After that Firefox will ask you to type it once per session before showing you your credentials.
After that, honestly, if you really don't want to deal with it, a dedicated password manager is more robust (like Bitwarden or KeePass). But with Primary Password enabled, Firefox's default security is already pretty good. Just really don't forget this password, because if you lose it you can say goodbye to all your stored credentials.
I never store my passwords directly in Firefox and it's saved me more than once! The thing that nobody really mentions is that you also need to check your autofill settings - even with a Master Password, if you let Firefox fill in forms automatically on any site, someone who has access to your PC can still see them display on screen.
The real game changer for me was combining an external password manager (like Bitwarden or 1Password) with Firefox, but I get that it's not for everyone. If you really want to use Firefox, enable the Master Password ASAP - it's clearly better than nothing! But remember that it only protects you if someone accesses your Firefox config, not if someone steals your entire computer or looks over your shoulder.
You're not really in danger overnight if someone gets access to your PC, but they'd still need to know where to look and have time to dig around. But yeah, if you want to sleep soundly, a Master Password is definitely the way to go - it encrypts everything that's stored. I've got a kind of weird setup myself: for important stuff (email, banking, etc.) I enter it every time, but for less sensitive accounts I leave them saved with the Master Password turned on, which saves me when I switch computers or reinstall Firefox.
The fundamental thing you absolutely have to do: enable a master password in Firefox settings (Preferences > Security > Passwords). Without it, anyone with access to your PC can open the password manager and see all your login credentials in plain text. It's honestly not complicated to set up and it makes all the difference.
Now, here's the trap that others didn't explain well: even with a master password, Firefox doesn't ask you to re-enter it every time you browse. You enter it once at startup and then it stays unlocked until you close the browser or manually lock it. So if you leave your PC on and someone gets access to it, they can grab everything during that session. You need to be aware of that. Same thing, watch out for autofill on forms - not just passwords, but usernames too can be problematic on a shared PC or one that others have access to.
Honestly, to really sleep soundly, a dedicated password manager (Bitwarden, 1Password and the like) is more secure than a browser because they have extra encryption layers. But if you stick with Firefox, a master password plus some care about keeping your sessions locked, that's already way better than nothing.
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