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The new Send tab of the Bitwarden password manager. Subscribe to TechRepublic's How To Make Tech Work on YouTube for all the latest tech advice for business pros from Jack Wallen. Bitwarden, the open source password manager, makes it easy to generate and store unique passwords for any browser or device. Create your free account on the platform with end-to-end encryption and flexible integration options for you or your business. When comparing LastPass vs Bitwarden, be sure to look for password sharing capabilities and proactive security features so you can determine which which solution is the best fit for you. At Bitwarden, we share a sense of purpose—helping the global community of online users manage their sensitive information easily and securely. Our open source software is the foundation of who we are as a company, with transparency and collaboration at the forefront of our core values. Bitwarden is full of useful functions as well. The list of features includes encrypted file attachments, security audit reports, two-factor authentication, user groups, shared items, and more. Bitwarden has a cool trick up its sleeve. Since it’s an open-source service, Bitwarden allows you to self-host the app data on your own server.

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More about cybersecurity

The new Send tab of the Bitwarden password manager.

The developers of the Bitwarden password manager are always looking to improve their software. When their PR guys reached out to me last week to let me know of a new feature, you can bet I was all ears. Said feature isn't a deal maker or breaker, but for some, it could fill a void found in many desktop and mobile password manager apps. That void is sharing passwords, text and files securely.

What you'll need

To make this work you'll need the latest version of Bitwarden (1.25.0). To send Files, you'll need a Premium license, which is $10/yearly. I'm going to demonstrate on the desktop client, but the process is the same on the mobile version. To make this feature even better, all of your Sends will sync between clients--as long as they are associated with the same Bitwarden account.

How to create a Send

Bitwarden Tutorial Video

Open Bitwarden. In the new interface, you'll see a Send tab at the bottom of the left pane (Figure A).

Figure A

Click on the Send button and click +. At the top of the new window, select either File or Text (Figure B). Just remember, to send a file, you must have a Premium account.

Figure B

Let's say you want to create a Send for a password that you frequently have to share out with other staff members. Give the new Send a name, select Text, and then copy the password in the text field. Once you've done that, scroll down to the Options section and set a Deletion Date for the Send link (Figure C). This is important, as you don't want that link permanently valid.

Figure C

You can also set an expiration date and a max access count (how many times a user can access the send before it becomes inaccessible).

Scroll down again and create an optional password and add any notes you might want/need for the Send (Figure D).

Figure D

If you do set a password for the Send, you'll need to share the password with the recipient, but gaining that extra layer of security might be worth the added steps.

Click the checkbox for Copy The Link To Share This Send To My Clipboard Upon Save and click the Save button at the bottom of the window. You can now paste the Send link into an email or a message and send it to the recipient.

That's all there is to using the new Bitwarden Send feature.

Nits to pick

Of all the password managers out there, Bitwarden is my favorite. Besides being open source, Bitwarden also has the perfect ratio of features and simplicity. That ease of use is one of the reasons why I found a few nits to pick with the new Send option.

Because Bitwarden is such an easy tool to use, it surprises me that they don't have a more fully-realized sharing option built into the tool. Instead, you must opt to use an external tool to share the Send link. This leads me to my other nit: why not make it possible to quickly share an entry in the Vault?

Add a share option that would allow you to create a link to share a login entry from within your Bitwarden Vault. All you'd have to do is locate the entry to be shared and click the Share button. Fill out an email address and an encrypted link is automatically sent to the recipient.

That, of course, might be asking for too much. Given how well Bitwarden development has gone, I'd say it's a feature that should be under consideration.