Strategies for Remembering Login Credentials

You know that big red "EASY" button that Staples uses for their advertising? I've finally decided that the checkbox for "remember me" should really be labeled with a big red "FORGET" button. That may sound harsh, but as a person who frequently has to remind others of their usernames and passwords...or reset passwords...I highly recommend that you never click "remember me" or "remember this password" in your browser.

The only way to truly remember credentials is to use phrases that are meaningful to you, use them repetitiously across multiple sites, and have to type those credentials over and over again. But why do that if a site or tool can automatically remember you?

That "remember me" function is executed by placing a file (cookie) on your desktop. That means that if you are not at your desktop, you can't be remembered, or if your hard drive crashes, the cookie has likely disappeared. For most people, once that cookie is gone, they have no clue how to log onto the site or tool.

To really make life easier for yourself, try to stick with a few rules of thumb for creating new accounts (or updating existing ones):

Most of all, de-select that "remember me" box so you can start practicing to remember on your own!