Using KeePassXC as Your Browser’s Password Manager
7 July, 2026
As part of an effort to consolidate and minimize the software and services (both desktop and online) that I use, I’ve been looking for a new password manager. It’s not that I’m dissatisfied with the one that I’m using, but I’ll be letting my subscription to the suite to which it’s a part expire early next year.
Since I’m not one to self host, I began searching for a desktop password manager that can work with a web browser. What I came across is something that that didn’t think of and which I’ve been using, on and off, for many a year: KeePassXC.
While KeePassXC has always been a solid desktop tool, for me it was untested when used with a web browser. What I found was a pleasant surprise.
Let’s take a quick look at how to use KeePassXC as the password manager in your web browser.
What is KeePassXC?
It’s a popular desktop password manager application, derived from the venerable KeePass. It’s available for Linux and those other two operating systems as well.
KeePassXC doesn’t have prettiest user interface (it never really has), but it is more than serviceable. Anyway, you won’t be looking at it much so don’t worry too much about the application’s looks.
Why Use It?
KeePassXC is free and open source and, as I pointed out a couple of paragraphs ago, and is available for multiple operating systems. It uses a well-supported file format making it compatible with other, similar tools.
One of main draws of KeePassXC is that it enables you to keep your passwords under your control, not in some cloud service that could be breached.
Before You Start
If you install your browser or KeePassXC as a flatpak, they won’t work together. Why? Flatpaks use a security model that restricts them from communicating with other applications. So, you’ll need to install a native version of your browser and of KeePassXC. You should be able to do that from your Linux distribution’s software manager.
I have heard that there is a workaround or two for the flatpak problem, but I haven’t tried them out. At first blush, they looked a bit too techie for my taste. Your experience may vary.
Getting Started
If you’re not already using KeePassXC, install it and create a database. A database, in KeePassXC parlance, is a secure file containing your passwords. The database file has the extension .kdbx.
Also, install the KeePassXC extension/add-on for your web browser(s). It’s available for:
- Firefox and its variants (like LibreWolf and Waterfox.
- Browsers based on Chrome like Helium, Chromium, Vivaldi, and Brave.
If you’re using another password manager, you can export passwords from that tool and import them into your KeePassXC database.
Then, follow these instructions1 to set up the connection between KeePassXC and your web browser.
You can usually get away with using KeePassXC’s out-of-the-box settings. And although your experience might be different, I found that I needed to restart KeePassXC and unlock the password database after changing the integration settings.
Configuring the Browser Extension
To do that, click the extension’s icon in your toolbar. On the popup that displays, click the Settings icon, as shown below:
That opens a long page of options. I’m not going to go into all of them. Read through the descriptions and enable or disable the ones that seem to fit your needs.
If you use KeePassXC and its browser extension on more than one device, you can also export the extension’s options or import them on the Settings page.
Using It
Fire up KeePassXC and keep your password database unlocked. Then, in your web browser, go to a site with which you have an account that requires you to log in. That can be, for example, your email provider.
When you land on the login page, you’ll see the KeePassXC logo in the login field. Here’s an example:
Click the logo. Your user name and password are added to the fields.
If it’s the first time you’re using that login, you might see a dialog box like this when you click the KeePassXC logo:
Click the Remember checkbox and then click Allow Selected.
That’s great if you have an existing login, but what if you want to add a login to a new site? When you enter a user name and password in the the login fields for a website that KeePassXC doesn’t know, the browser extension displays this banner:
Click New to save the login to your database2.
It’s that simple. That said, there is a potential problem or three which I look at below.
Problems
On rare occasions, the integration stops working even though it had previously worked with a site. When that happens, restarting your web browser fixes the problem.
I found that I need to ensure that that URL associated with a login in KeePassXC matches the URL of site. Again, its not always a problem, but if (say) a site’s login is at https://app.site.name and the URL in KeePassXC is https://site.name, the browser extension will tell you that it can’t find a match. This error message displays when you click the icon in a login field:
With some sites that use what I call a two-step login — where enter a user name on one page and your password on a subsequent page — the browser extension doesn’t automatically fill in password. This has only happened to me a with two or three sites, though.
After working through some initial hiccups, I found that KeePassXC is a solid replacement for the password manager that I’ve been using for the last few years. While I need to find a more efficient way of sharing my password database between my computers, what I’m doing works for me. On top of that, my passwords stay with me and aren’t on someone else’s computer.