How to Export and Import Passwords from CSV File in Google Chrome

Here's how to export and import passwords from a CSV File in Google Chrome. When you enter your credentials on a web site, the Chrome browser offers saving them for future use in autofill option. This helpful feature allows you to save your time, and the only thing you need to do is to press the Enter key to sign in into an online service. You can create a backup copy of your saved passwords to a CSV file. This will allow you to restore them later on demand, or transfer them to another PC.

If you are not familiar with CSV files, here is some brief info on the topic. The CSV abbreviation  stands for "Comma Separated Values". Such a file is just a plain text file that contains "rows" and "columns" data. A "row" is just a line in the file. The first line may contain column titles.  "Columns" in a row are separated by commas. CSV is a very popular file format when it comes to data exchange between apps. Many database management apps, contact managers, and even web browsers offer exporting values to a CSV file.

Google Chrome allows exporting your saved login data to such a file with a couple of clicks. There is an option in settings for that. However, the import option is hidden and doesn't appear anywhere in the GUI. Luckily, there is a way to get it working.

This post will show you how to export and import passwords from a CSV file in Google Chrome.

Export Passwords to CSV File in Google Chrome

1. In the Chrome browser, press Alt+F or click on the menu button.
2. Select Settings from the menu.
3. In Settings, navigate to Autofill and click on the Passwords entry.
4. On the next page, go to the Saved Passwords section, and click on the menu button with three dots on the right.
5. Select Export passwords from the menu.
6. Confirm the operation by clicking on the Export passwords... button.
7. Now enter your Windows user account and password to verify that it is indeed you who wants to export the saved passwords.
8. Finally, specify the folder location to save your CSV file.

You are done. The Chrome browser will export all your saved login data to that file.

Now, let's see how to import a CSV file back to Chrome. It is a bit tricky, as the required option is not visible in the GUI. Google may find it not useful or just cosnider it experimental, so you need to perform extra steps to access it.

How to Import Passwords from CSV File in Google Chrome

1. Open the menu in Chrome (Alt+F) and select Settings.
2. In Settings, navigate to Autofill > Passwords.
3. Under the Saved passwords section, click on the three dot button to open the menu.
4. Now, right-click on the Export passwords entry in the menu, and select Inspect.
5. In the Developer tools on the right, you will see the "menuExportPassword" button ID, and menuImportPassword above it with the hidden attribute.
6. Double-click on the hidden item to edit it, and remove this word using the Del key on the keyboard.  Press Enter to save the change.
7. Now, click again on the menu button next to the Saved passwords line. You will see the Import entry.
8. Browse for your CSV file to import the passwords from.

You are done!

This works like a charm. The only issue here is that you have to repeat the enablement steps every time you open the Settings tab in Chrome. Once you close the Tab, Chrome will hide the Import option. This is expected to be resolved once Google devs will make the Import commands available to everyone.

It is worth mentioning that Microsoft is also working on the similar feature for they browser. You need to simply turn on a flag to be able to import passwords from a CSV file in Microsoft Edge.

That's it.

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