Use Password Monitor to help protect your passwords in Microsoft Edge

Summary

Microsoft Edge Password Monitor helps detect compromised, reused, or weak passwords saved in your browser and alerts you if your credentials appear in known data breaches. Use Password Monitor to strengthen account security by monitoring saved passwords, reviewing security alerts, and updating exposed credentials directly from Microsoft Edge.

Every year, hundreds of millions of usernames and passwords are exposed online when websites or apps become the target of data breaches. Hackers use this stolen info to hijack accounts and engage in fraudulent transactions, identity theft, illegal fund transfers, or other illegal activities.

Unfortunately, many people reuse the same usernames and passwords for more than one online account. This leaves them vulnerable on multiple sites when breaches occur.

To help you protect your online accounts, Password Monitor checks if your passwords have been compromised in a data breach. Changing your passwords immediately is the best way to prevent your accounts from being hijacked.

How Password Monitor works

When Password Monitor is on, Microsoft Edge automatically checks passwords you’ve saved in the browser against a database of known breached credentials. This database is updated periodically.

If any saved passwords match those in the database, they’ll appear on the Password Monitor page. You can get to the page by typing edge://settings/autofill/passwords/checkup in the Microsoft Edge address bar (Windows and macOS only). Any passwords that are leaked, reused, or weak appear on this page and they are no longer safe to use and should be changed immediately

When Password Monitor checks your passwords against the database of known leaked credentials, they’re hashed and encrypted before being sent to the service. This encryption helps prevent anyone but you from seeing your saved passwords.

Turn on Password Monitor

1. Make sure you’re signed in to Microsoft Edge using your Microsoft account or your work or school account.

2. At the top corner of the browser, select Settings and more (...) > Settings.
   
   

3. Select Passwords and autofill > Microsoft Password Manager​​​​​​​.

4. Select Password security check.

5. Turn on Enable leaked password scan in settings toggle. 

What to do if you discover your password has been compromised

1. At the top corner of the browser, select Settings and more (...) > Settings.
   
   

2. Select Passwords and autofill > Microsoft Password Manager​​​​​​​.

3. Select Password security check.

4. For each account where your password is shown to be compromised, select Change. You’ll be taken to the relevant website where you can change your password.

5. If an entry in the list of compromised passwords is no longer relevant to you, you can ignore it by selecting Ignore.