How in the Tech

Show Passwords in Firefox Form Fields

By Adam Myers ⋅ March 13, 2009 ⋅ Tags: Firefox

How often are you typing in your password in a login box on the web with someone peering over your shoulder? I suspect not very often yet the notion of replacing your password with ***** (asterisks) is commonplace. Obviously the idea is for your own protection but for some it may be overkill. If you are using a long and complicated password – you are right? – sometimes a finger misstep can lead to a typo or two. Other asterisk annoyances occur on registration forms that require you to key in a password twice for verification – ensuring there are now typos in the first form field by comparing it to the second form field. That’s arguably a cumbersome solution to a problem that wouldn’t exist if you could visually see the password you typed in the first place.

Show Password is a Firefox extension for those of us that aren’t concerned about the screen spyers around us. The add-on is marked experimental by the Mozilla folks so that means a quick registration on their site is necessary before you may download it. I experienced no issues with the add-on even though it was marked experimental but it should be mentioned nonetheless. Once installed, Show Password adds an icon to all password form fields from within the Firefox browser – basically any form that you would typically see ***** in. Clicking the icon logically toggles between the typed password and the obscured asterisk view – it’s really that simple.

It goes without saying that this add-on is not for you if you are working in a public place or in any situation where someone has the ability to see your computer screen as you type the password. Those caveats aside, this is a handy extension that fills a niche role.