Chrome's password manager will now auto-update your weak passwords

(Credit: The Shortcut/Google)

• 👏 Google has added a useful update to the built-in password manager in Chrome that can change a compromised or unsafe password automatically

• 👍 It will prompt the user if an unsafe password is used at sign-in with an option to fix it automatically

• 🔒 On ‘supported websites', it can also generate a strong replacement and update automatically, according to Google

• 🤔 Currently, the password manager can detect an unsafe password, but it still needs to be manually changed

Google is going to let Chrome's built-in password manager change any saved password it detects as being weak, as announced at their 2025 I/O conference.

According to a recent blog post, when Chrome notices you have a compromised password during sign-in, the password manager “prompts the user with an option to fix it automatically”.

Furthermore, Google went on to note that “on supported websites, Chrome can generate a strong replacement and update the password for the user automatically.”

As it stands, Chrome's password manager can already tell if you have a password that's been compromised or is unsafe, but you have to go and manually change it.

The thought process, according to Parisa Tabriz, VP and GM of Chrome, is that having to manually change a compromised password is annoying, so folks won't do it. Therefore, by automatically doing so, they see it as a “win for safety, as well as usability”, ultimately ending as a “win-win for users”.

In a question from The Verge, Tabriz also clarified that the passwords would require user consent to be changed, rather than being automatically updated so they are never out of date in the name of keeping the user “in control”.

Google's I/O conference is designed for developers to be updated on recent changes and updates, so they can be prepared for them later in the year.

The 2025 edition has been huge for Google, with lots of noteworthy changes including for Android 16, as well as an AI subscription model, and some clever new wearable stuff with Android XR.

To be specific, Android 16 is getting a large-scale redesign compared to previous iterations with a much more customizable interface complete with wackier fonts and a more colorful look.

In addition, Google's AI subscription models start at $20 a month for the AI Pro model with access to some of their latest AI features, including Gemini in Chrome and in the G Suite of apps.

The next AI Ultra tier goes all the way to $250 a month and is designed for cutting-edge commercial features, such as Google's Veo 3 video generation tool, alongside 30TB of cloud storage and access to YouTube Premium, weirdly.

Android XR brings some advanced features to new smart glasses, complete with Gemini integration, as well as their own cameras, microphones, speakers, and a mini display. Google has partnered with eyewear brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker for extra-stylish choices, and extended its partnership with Samsung for the tech, too.

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Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.