How I accidentally deleted all my passwords from Google Password Manager | Hacker News Reader

How I accidentally deleted all my passwords from Google Password Manager

15 pointsgatefun5 comments

Yesterday, while trying to get a government website to display a menu of installed certificates to use with it, I decided to delete all my Google Chrome browser history. Since I haven't done it for a while now I opted for the most severe option - delete everything since the beginning.

Well hidden in the delete menu, there was a checkbox among many others that I automatically clicked - an option to delete saved site passwords.

Oh boy, was this a fatal move?

Soon thereafter I got the answer to that question. All my passwords from Google Password Manager were deleted and this new state was synced across all my active connected Google devices.

Is it possible to make such a serious mistake when deleting browser history? Google says it is. And there is no (easy) way back. Thinking about replacing your separate password manager with Google Password Manager? Well, think again. What's Google's response to this situation? Silence.

[If you're lucky, a possible remedy: Find another connected device that hasn't been synced with the new state yet. Ensure the sync doesn't activate on it (disable the internet connection on the device). Export the saved passwords. Sync the device. Import the previously exported passwords. Sync again.]

This is heartbreaking. I can't even imagine the ramifications of losing all my passwords. Beyond the obvious hassle of having to reset everything, there are some accounts I use only rarely (sometimes with unique usernames). I don't think I'd remember them until I needed them.

Hugs.

I feel very sorry for you, it sucks how often we are one click away from a major fuckup, eventually it's bound to happen...

Somewhat related... My phone with Google authenticator died all of a sudden one evening. I panicked as I wasn't sure if and where my recovery keys were stored. It turned out that it wasn't completely dead - some water droplets must have gotten under the case. Spent next 2 hours resetting my 2FAs, backed up recovery codes and the Google authenticator itself to my secondary phone. Backup your 2FA codes as well, not just passwords... It takes a minute to export it all from Google Authenticator as QR codes

I appreciate your sharing your experience, I’m sure it will help others and/or provide a note of caution. I once lost thousands of emails because I wasn’t aware of something I apparently should have been aware of. You can bet I went forward doing things differently. A password management system without a backup could be very difficult. I sincerely hope you have a connected device that hasn’t been synced yet. I would not have thought that deleting the Google Chrome browser history would also delete all the passwords too.

This is why you make backups

and "just" create a new profile

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