What Is LastPass and How Do I Use It?


What is LastPass?

LastPass is a premium service that stores links to websites, auto-generates and encrypts secure passwords, stores hint questions and notes and auto-fills UID and Password in Chrome, Safari, MS Edge, and Firefox browsers. It does not auto-fill in Opera.

Auburn University offers a free premier account for LastPass to all employees and students.  This means access to a great security tool at no cost to you. 

In order to request the free premium version of LastPass offered to you by Auburn, you will need to create an account.  

If you have previously subscribed to a personal, paid version of LastPass and would like to convert that account to the free premium version offered by Auburn, visit lastpass.com/auburn and follow the registration steps below.  You will be able to upgrade your basic account to a premium account at no charge.  

If you need further assistance, navigate to the LastPass site.

LastPass also offers a variety of 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) security options including DUO, and you should use one of them. LastPass (lastpass.com/auburn) works on phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, etc.  If you want to use it and need help, let your IT provider know.

How LastPass Works External Link

After you download and use LastPass, it is also a good idea to run the LastPass Security Challenge which analyzes your security and takes you step-by-step through improving your passwords.

Enterprise LastPass Account Assistance External Link

Step 1

On the Auburn LastPass site you will be prompted for 2 email addresses.  The first one will validate that you have an Auburn account.  The second will be the email that you use to create your account. 

*If you have an alias, do not use that email address to create your account.  Use your “actual” address.

enter your email address

Once you have submitted the above information, you should see the following message:

Congratulations, verification screen shot

 

**When you receive the message above you will notice that the Premium account is good for one year.  When that year expires, if you’re employment or student status is still active, you will be able to renew the free premium account.  If you choose NOT to renew, your account will be downgraded to a basic account and you will lose some features but no data.  If your employment or student status is not active you may elect to pay for the premium service.  See pricing details.

An email sent to the address that was submitted for your personal LastPass account.  Please click Create My Account from within the email.  This will allow you to be creating your account.

create account

 Step 2

You will now need to create your LastPass account, if you do not already have one.  Your email address has been populated and you will need to create your master password.  This will be the one password that will give you access to your vault.

create account

The password requirements will populate when you begin typing in that field.  As you satisfy a requirement you will see a green check.

create account

 Once you are satisfied with your master password, click Create My Account.

Step 3

You must install the extension to Chrome.  This is how you will access your LastPass account.

welcome

 Click Install LastPass to add the extension to Chrome.  Follow the next screens to complete this.  Click Add to Chrome.

add chrome extension

 Click Add Extension.

add chrome extension

After clicking Add Extension you will see a message “checking” for a few seconds…then the extension will be added!

Once the installation is complete you will see a black box in the upper right corner of your browser.  It will be next to your favorites.  You will click this button to log in to the LastPass account.

complete adding chrome extension

Sign in with your credentials.

log into last pass

The icon will turn red when you are signed in.

extension activated

LastPass remembers the last few websites you have been to.  You can add those passwords at this time or you can choose to add them later.

walk through first password save

 As you visit sites, you will be prompted to remember the password for that site, as seen in the message below:

remember password prompt

Clicking on the red box will bring you to this menu.  Here you can open the vault and start saving passwords and managing your account.

managing lastpass account

While in an open Chrome window, clicking on the LastPass icon in the right corner will allow you access to your Vault.  The Vault is where you can store the passwords for websites.  Clicking the LastPass icon opens the following menu:

managing last pass account

Click Open My Vault

open vault

 

In the middle section you will see the passwords and the associated websites that you have saved.

view of saved passwords

On each icon for a website you have multiple options.  Hover over the icon to see these options.  You can launch the site, edit the site password, or delete it from your vault.  **If you need to change a password for a specific site or account, this is where you can do that using the wrench icon.

launch website with saved password

The red plus symbol in the bottom right corner will allow you to add a new site.  You can also create folders to better organize your sites.

add a new site

You can also add sites to your Vault by visiting that site.  As you visit new sites LastPass will ask if you would like to add the current site to your Vault.  Click Not now or Add.

add a new site

 

Along the left side, there are other options as well.

lastpass menu options lastpass menu options

Using this menu, you can add:

  • notes about sites
  • information for contacts including physical address and email address
  • credit card information
  • banking information
  • emergency access to your account

While in Emergency Access, clicking the red plus icon and you may add an individual that would have emergency access to your Vault.  This person will have access to your LastPass account.  If you are an emergency access contact for someone else, you will see that in this window as well.

set emergency access to your vault

The Security Challenge is a report on your security level based on all of the passwords you have saved in the Vault.  You can see if you have compromised passwords, weak passwords, old passwords, or duplicate passwords.

security challenge questions

Account Settings will allow you to access your LastPass account.  Here you can see how old your password is and change it, if necessary.  You can also see an expiration date on your premier account so that you can reregister.

account settings

  1. Open your LastPass Vault. 
  2. Click on Account Settings
  3. In the menu across the top of the window, click on Multifactor Options.
    multifactor options
  4. There are multiple MFAs to choose from.  For each type, there is a help icon, which will take you to the service’s webpage for assistance, and an edit icon.
    select an MFA
  5. Once you have enabled a service, the state will change to Enabled.

Below are the steps you will need to follow in order to recover your master password.  If this process does not work the only remaining option will be to create a new account with a different email address.

When you click the LastPass icon in your browser, you will be asked to log in.  If you can’t remember the master password, click Recovery Help.

recover your password

You will be prompted to enter the email address associated with your account.  Enter that address and click Send Hint.

forgot password

After clicking Send Hint, you will see the following popup.

email hint for password

Check your inbox for a new email from LastPass. 

Open the email.  It will verify your address and show you the hint you entered.  If the hint helps you, return and log into your account.  If the hint does not help you, here you can click LastPass Account Recovery or return to the log in screen and click Recovery Help.

recovery email

After clicking Recovery Help you will see the below window.  Again you will need to enter the email address associated with the account.

enter the email address associated with the account

After entering the address, you will see the below message.

check your inbox message

Check your inbox for a new message from LastPass.  It will contain the following email:

email for requested password change

Click Start LastPass Account Recovery.  If that link does not work, there is a link you can copy and paste into your browser.

When you see the below message, click Click to Recover Account.

click to recover account

LastPass will use a one-time password to activate your account.  Click Yes to use this one-time password.

use a one time password to recover the account

The next message is to let you know that the one-time password will be used.

your onetime password has been used

Now that you have access, you will be prompted to create a new master password and a new reminder.

create a new master password

Once you create this new password and reminder, it will be accepted by LastPass.  You will see a message that LastPass is encrypting your data and logging into your account.

You will also receive an email notifying you of a change to your master password.

password change information

Once you have changed your master password you should have full access back to your account.

Auburn renews the LastPass contract each year.  As a premium user, you will need to renew your subscription.  This service will still be no cost to you.

  1. Open a web browser
    1. You may need to use an incognito or private browsing window
    2. If using Chrome, click the 3 dots to the right of the navigation bar and select “New Incognito Window.”
    3. For most other browsers, clicking in the same area will allow you to select a Private Browsing Window.
  2. Visit LastPass.
  3. Complete the LastPass form and click Submit.
    complete this form and click submit
  4. You will receive an email message from LastPass.  Follow the instructions in the email to complete the renewal.
    follow these steps to complete the renewal
  5. You can open your vault, and go to account settings to view your account expiration date.
    view your expiration date