Exporting/Backing up passwords

[dave145]

HI. I am worried that should my laptop fail i.e. with a hard drive failure all my strong passwords stored in Avast passwords will be lost to me. In settings/ passwords there is an option to ' export passwords to a .csv file ' does this mean the passwords can be copied to an external drive and then imported to a new laptop with Avast ? I am not sure what a .csv file is, would my passwords be copied and still remain on this laptop. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Martin Kvetko]

Export to csv in meant for users leaving us so they can export the records they have with use and use them in other application. We don't yet support import of CSV we generate (shame on us) so you can't import such CSV easily back.

If you are worried about loosing the data you can enable sychronization (in Settings->Passwords) and even if you have just one device and you are not actually synchronizing you get backup of your passwords. Just note that at this point you need remember master password which was valid at the time you first setup synchonization for the account, in case you want to use backup you will be asked for it. Also note that we send you a link with backup data to your email which is required for backup process so once you set all things up, please check you've got the email and it was not ended in spam folder and also mark it somehow so you don't delete it accidentally.

We are working hard towards to change this part of functionality to make it more easier for the user as lots of user forgot they passwords and then they can't use backup or lots of user can't find the backup email we send. That's why I pointing this out explicitly in this post ;-)

[dave145]

Thanks for the advice. I have an old but still working desktop which I have now synchronised, My master password is kept in a very secure place so given your info' I think that I am now safe. I have noted your advice to save the email in a safe folder. Once again many thanks.

[REDACTED]

Please Note that the export function does not output a .csv record if the Username field of the Avast Password entry is blank.  This is a little strange because the Username field itself is not part of the.csv record in any case, so why it should be required in order to create a .csv record is hard to understand!!  While the Username is generally a field on internet logons it is not always required.  And why is it not an output field on the .csv record?   Strange.

[Martin Kvetko]

Thanks for the report, I will check this out.

[REDACTED]

All I want to do is remove some extraneous passwords that Avast has listed in my computer.

I spoke at length with Avast technicians who said they'd help me if and only if they could log into my computer.  After the Russian "Kaspersky Antivirus" got busted for letting Russian hackers into the Democratic National computers and possibly Hillary Clinton's computers, I will not expose my computer to any anti-virus software company. 

So am I stuck with going to McAffee or Norton?  Apart from exposing my computer, is there a way to remove some extraneous, mistyped passwords from Avast? 

[Martin Kvetko]

Well you can manage your passwords in Avast window. Just pick Privacy section from left menu and select Passwords. It will open you view of all passwords avast is managing and you can by clicking on password and selecting edit mode delete or update whatever you want.