Leaked Passwords: Microsoft Edge Now Warn Users If Their Passwords Are Leaked

Microsoft has equipped the Chromium-based Edge browser with a password monitor. This warns users as soon as a password has been affected by a leak. The new feature can be found in the latest Canary and Dev versions of the Edge browser.

The Password Monitor periodically connects to an online database that contains a list of passwords that may have been leaked from numerous services due to data leaks. The browser then checks whether locally saved passwords are also on this list. If a service is compromised and a password is leaked, the user is shown a corresponding warning. Whether the user reacts to it and changes his password is of course up to him.

In order to activate the new function, the latest Canary or Dev version of Microsoft Edge is required. These are experimental builds that are updated regularly and in which new features are tested in advance. The two versions can be installed from an official Redmond website.

Feature must be activated manually

After the Canary or Dev build has been installed, the Password Monitor has to be activated manually. This is possible via the browser settings. There the sub-item “Profiles” and then the menu item “Passwords” must be selected. Here the user can now activate the option “Show warnings when passwords are found in an online data leak”.

It is not yet known when the Password Monitor will be installed in a final version of the Chromium-based Edge browser. Unless there are any major problems with the testers of the Canary and Dev builds, the function could be delivered to all users in the coming weeks. Microsoft has not yet released a statement on this.