How Password Monitor Safeguards Your Sensitive Data In Microsoft Edge

Microsoft recently bid adieu to its decades-old internet browser for laptop and PC users. However, the company isn't entirely done with web browsers. Microsoft Edge is one of the pre-installed browsing apps that you will find on Windows-powered laptops and PCs. Being a regular user of Microsoft Edge, I can say that it is packed with utilities and delivers a slightly better user experience than Google Chrome.

Besides the intuitive UI and useful plug-ins and tools, the newer version of the Edge browser is also equipped with notable security features.

Password monitor is one such handy feature introduced by Microsoft for Edge users. This security feature is designed to protect the user's account's privacy while surfing the web. Once this option is enabled, users are notified if any of their passwords have been compromised and is found in any online leak, which has become very common today.

Setting up the Password Monitor on the Edge web browser will make sure your online data and credentials are safe and you are notified of any such mishaps. And with the rising frequency of such online attacks, having such security layers is necessary.

Microsoft Edge has this security feature built-in and it is frequent with checking the user's saved passwords along with the list of the ones found on the sites that are compromised or in case of massive data thefts. The user is alerted if the saved password is compromised or has been leaked.

This security option is enabled by default in the latest versions of the Edge browser. However, you can also do some manual configurations to set up and manage the Password Monitor security feature in the Microsoft Edge web browser. The steps are mentioned below:

How To Configure Group Policy For Password Monitor In Edge?

You need to check if the Password Monitor Allowed group policy is enabled on your laptop/PC's web browser. You can click here to read more about the same. (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-policies#passwordmonitorallowed). After you have enabled the policy,

you will still need to give approval or consent to turn on this feature. Once you have given consent, you can enable the Password Monitor for users.

How To Enable Password Monitor For Users On Microsoft Edge?

You can enable the Password Monitor feature using three different methods on Microsoft Edge.

1) Using Auto-enablement Option

This is for the users who are logged into their edge browser using their work account. The Active Directory/ Azure Active Directory and password sync are auto-enabled for this feature. Users will get a notification confirming the feature is turned on.

2) By Getting Explicit User Consent

In case the Password Sync is off, users will receive consent permission to toggle on the Password monitor. Users will be prompted when a new password is saved. This is generally driven by two scenarios:

• If a user is trying to save or update a new password
• Also, when a user logs into the browser using a saved password.

3) Using the direct activation method. Follow the steps below:

Step 1: Go to the Settings menu.
Step 2: Select the Passwords option and toggle on or off this option.

What Are Password Monitor's Limits?

The Password Monitor feature on Edge is available to all users. However, it is restricted to certain groups of users. Specifically, if any user is signed in using a work account where there are restrictions on several policies. The Password Monitor will not be auto-enabled in such cases.