A woman’s hands on a laptop keyboard.

Long passwords don’t have to be hard to remember, but they do need to be difficult for someone else to guess.

Strong passwords are long, unique and difficult for others to guess. While uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and symbols can help strengthen a password, length and uniqueness are often the most important factors. It should mean something to you but appear nonsensical to others. Ideally it is a string of characters that, if shown to another person for a couple seconds, would be nearly impossible for them to recall.

Tips for creating long, strong passwords

Do

  • Use a phrase with shortcuts, acronyms or strings:
    • 4Score&7yrsAgo: "Four score and seven years ago" from the Gettysburg Address
    • 14A&A41dumaS: “One for all and all for one” from “The Three Musketeers” by Dumas
    • Goatpotatolakebuspants: Words that don't mean anything together in a string
    • BlueRiverChairCoffeeSunset: Consider using a passphrase made up of several unrelated words that are easy for you to remember but difficult for others to guess.
  • Use passwords with common elements:
  • ABT2_uz_AMZ! - About to use Amazon
  • Pwrd4Acct-Fb - password for a Facebook account
  • Use a password manager: Consider using a password manager to generate and store strong, random passwords for your accounts.

Don't

  • Use common dictionary words: Password-cracking programs use dictionary lists to easily guess words in a password.
  • Make it too personal: If you put information on social media that you use in your password, a hacker will find it.
  • Make it too easy: A password like B@seba11 is actually easy to guess. It’s too short and uses a dictionary word with common substitutions.
  • Make it long but not strong: A password like House12345678 is never a good password.
  • Use a common pattern: Patterns like House1, House1234 or !House! are patterns that hackers look for.

Keep your online accounts safe

  • Keep your passwords private and never share them with anyone: A password manager is one of the safest ways to store and manage passwords. If you choose to write down a password, store it in a secure location where others cannot easily access it.
  • Abide by the tenet, "unique account, unique password": If one account is compromised in a data breach, using unique passwords can help prevent attackers from accessing your other accounts. Make sure all your accounts have unique passwords to protect you in the event of a breach.
  • Double your login protection: Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) to ensure that the only person who has access to your account is you. When available, consider using passkeys or app-based authentication methods, which can provide additional protection against phishing and account compromise.