LastPass has a free level, and this helped make it one of the most popular password managers on the market. But this free tier is now having some important limitations.
As of March 16, LastPass users on the free plan will no longer be able to use the password manager on their phones and portable computer. They will have to choose a device type.
The free LastPass plan now has two options:
- Desktop only: If you choose the desktop option, you will only be able to access your data from any Mac, Windows or Linux PC, which includes desktops or laptops.
- Mobile only: If you choose a cell phone, you will only be able to access your data from an iPhone, iPad, or Android phone / device (such as a Samsung Galaxy phone).
What you won’t be able to do is use LastPass for free on your computer and phone. This won’t work for many people, which means it’s time to upgrade to a paid plan ($ 36 per year for a single user, $ 48 per year for families) or move your data elsewhere.
There are several other password services that we think are better than LastPass, and one of them is also free. If you want to change, take a look at our updated Guide to the best password managers. After deciding where you want to take your passwords, you will need to export your data from LastPass and import it into the new service.
How to export your LastPass data
LastPass has two export options: a CSV file or an encrypted file. If you are switching to any of the services in our guide, CSV is the option to be used.
It is important to note that CSV is a plain text file, which means that this file that we are about to export will have all the password data unencrypted, in plain text. Be very careful with this export file. I suggest doing the export on your desktop or laptop, using the browser extension, but only on a network you trust. After importing the data into the new password manager, be sure to delete the plain text file.
The easiest way to get your data is the LastPass web browser extension, which you can get from the LastPass website. After installing the browser extension, click the browser toolbar button to open the LastPass menu. click in Account options, then Advanced, then Export. You should see an option called “CSV LastPass file”. Click on that link and your browser will save the resulting file to your hard drive.
If you are on a phone or tablet (or have already chosen the Mobile plan), you will have to use lastpass.com. Caution. Many browsers do not automatically download the generated file. To use the site, log in to your account and expand the left sidebar menu and click the button advanced options menu item. Then click on the Export option, enter your master password and click Submit. This will open a CSV file in your browser. Some browsers will automatically download this file. If yours doesn’t, just select everything and copy it. Then open Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (MacOS) and paste the CSV data. Select File> Save As in Notepad or TextEdit and type a name with the extension .csv at the end. Make sure to save it as plain text (not rich text).