How to Use the Password Generator

What the tool does

Every character is chosen with your browser's cryptographically secure random number generator, the same source used for encryption keys. The page never uses the ordinary Math.random function, which is not meant for secrets. Characters are chosen without bias, and each type you tick will always appear.

How to use it

1. Open the page. A password is already there. Copy it with the Copy button.
2. Change the length, or tick the types you want: uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols.
3. Press Regenerate for another, or make several at once.
4. For a password you can remember, choose Memorable words: unrelated words joined by hyphens, such as pelican-hammock-mint-glacier-turnip.

A worked example

The page states what the password contains and gives an entropy estimate: its length times log2 of the number of characters it could have used. For example, 16 characters drawn from 62 letters and digits gives about 95 bits (16 x 5.95). Length matters most, so a longer password is stronger. For memorable words, five or more words is a good choice.

Things to know

• A strong password only protects an account if it is unique to that account and kept somewhere safe. A password manager is the usual way to do that.
• The entropy figure is an estimate under stated assumptions, not a score or a guarantee.
• The symbol set and the look-alike characters the page can remove (I, l, 1, O, 0 and o) are listed on the page.
• Nothing you generate is sent or stored.

Common questions

Is a long password of words as good as random characters? Five or more random words can be strong and easier to remember. Length counts more than complexity.

Should I reuse a strong password? No. A strong password reused on two sites is only as safe as the weaker site.

Password Generator: Open the Password Generator and try your own numbers.