Having to memorize more and more passwords is leading us to a dead end. Either we write down the keys in a notebook or we use a password manager, but what is clear is that if we manage several online services we are going to need some kind of external help so as not to screw up our credentials.
In today's tutorial we will see a little trick that will help us to see what is the password behind the typicalasterisks that appear in the login forms when the "autocomplete" function is activated in our browser.
How to view asterisk-protected passwords on login forms
Although for this example we are going to use the Chrome browser, the truth is that this method can also be applied with other browsers such as Firefox or Opera. Let's see how it works:
- In the login form, in the box where the password masked by asterisks appears, we right click with the mouse and select "To inspect”.
- This will open a new adjacent window with the parameters corresponding to this part of the web form (that is, the box where the password is stored). In the countryside "Input"We change the value of"type = password" by "type = text”. Note: it is necessary to double click on the variable "type" to allow us to edit it.
- This will automatically make the asterisks disappear and instead the stored password for said web form will be displayed, leaving all its characters, letters and numbers in full view of the user.
As you can see, it is a fairly fast and functional method. Of course, we can always verify the password by entering the Chrome password manager (if we use this browser) or by opening the password management application on duty, such as 1Password or LastPass. Personally, I think that this trick is much more direct, and although it is a bit "dirty" the truth is that it is great for checking passwords without having to open a new tab or additional application.
Can this same trick be applied on Android?
Finally, mention that in Android the option to "Inspect element" is not enabled by default. We can see the source code of the form by adding the prefix “view-source:”In the address bar (URL) of the page, before HTTP. However, this only helps us to see the code and not to edit it, so at least for now, we are talking about a technique that only works on desktops.
Hey, thanks for staying until the end! If you found this post interesting, you may want to take a look at another very nice article that I wrote a while ago called "5 Android browsers that do respect your privacy." See you soon!
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