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# How to Get Your Passwords in Order, and Keep It That Way \[Part 2 of 5\]
[Cambium Data Blog](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/categories/blog) [Security](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/categories/security)
[Tony Underwood](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/blogger/tony-underwood)
Wednesday, 08 January 2025
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[ ![How to Get Your Passwords in Order, and Keep It That Way [Part 2 of 5]](//cambiumdata.directivesites.com/images/easyblog_shared/January_2025/1-08-25/b2ap3_large_PasswordManager_409150837_400x400.jpg) ](//cambiumdata.directivesites.com/images/easyblog_shared/January_2025/1-08-25/PasswordManager_409150837_400x400.jpg "How to Get Your Passwords in Order, and Keep It That Way [Part 2 of 5]")
Previously, we covered why it’s important to protect your online accounts and why it’s critical that you use strong passwords. We also provided some good tips for creating unique, strong passwords that are easier to remember. You’ll be using that method to create a couple of strong passwords, but ultimately, you’ll be using a password manager by the time you are done with this 5-part guide.
In this part, we’re going to do some housekeeping to make sure that all of your important online accounts are tied to a single email address, and we’re going to walk you through steps to secure that email account.
Here’s where we are at:
1. Create a few strong master passwords
2. **Choose a primary email for your accounts**
3. **Secure that email with a new, strong password**
4. Choose a Multi-factor authentication app
5. Set up Multi-factor authentication on your primary email
6. Select and set up a password manager
7. Update every account, secure it, and log it in the password manager
8. Delete old passwords stored in your browser (or in word documents, spreadsheets, sticky notes, or anywhere else)
9. Maintain the course!
## Choose a Primary Email Address
All of your online accounts are either connected to an email account, or less frequently, a phone number. What we mean by this is that if you somehow lost your password or needed to prove that you are who you say you are, the service will authenticate you by sending you an email (or in some cases, a text message).
Most adults have multiple email addresses. You might have email accounts for work, you might have an email account you received when graduating from college, or one provided to you from your ISP. You may also have gmail, yahoo, hotmail, outlook, or other types of email accounts.
We suggest that for most of your online accounts, you choose **one** single email account to manage everything (with the exception of work-related logins and accounts, those should always be through your work email). Everything that is personal to you, that you want to have access to and own the rights to indefinitely should all be tied back to one single email inbox that you can trust to remain functional for the rest of your life.
A Google Gmail account is a good option for this if you already have one. I’d avoid using email accounts from your ISP, your place of work, or other organizations you are a part of. Again, we’re trying to avoid having to put a lot of time and effort into maintaining your digital identity in the future. We’d also suggest avoiding Yahoo accounts, as historically Yahoo has had major issues involving every single email account being compromised.
For this example, we’ll use a Gmail account as our **primary email.**
This means that any time I create an account somewhere, I always use the same email address. When I log into an older account and I notice it’s tied to a different email, I adjust it. We’re going to have a step where we do this for all of your accounts shortly, so bear this in mind.
## Update Your Primary Email Password
Your **primary email** needs to be extremely secure. If a criminal were to gain access to your **primary email**, they’d be able to reset passwords for all of your online accounts. This email needs to be your Fort Knox.
The first thing you need to do is update the password on your primary email. Generate a nice long password using the passphrase trick, and update the password.
I’m going to let you break a pretty serious rule for now, and let you write your new password down. You’ll be destroying the evidence by the end of this guide, so relish the feeling of being a rebel while you can.
For Gmail, you do this by going to your [Google Account Settings](https://myaccount.google.com/), click **Security**, and go to **Password**.
For Outlook/Hotmail accounts, you can typically update your password [here](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=842325&clcid=0x409).
For Apple mail accounts, go to your [Apple Account Settings](http://account.apple.com). In the **Sign-In and Security** area choose **Password**.
## Be Sure to Check Out The Rest of the Posts in This Series
This is a five-part guide! Head on back to our blog to see the rest of these articles (we’ll be posting each one every other weekday). You can also click on #Password Guide below to see all of the parts that are currently published.
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Tags:
[Passwords](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/tags/passwords) [User Tips](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/tags/user-tips) [Password Guide](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/tags/password-guide)
[ How to Get Your Passwords in Order, and Keep It Th... ](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/how-to-get-your-passwords-in-order-and-keep-it-that-way-part-3-of-5)
[ How to Get Your Passwords in Order, and Keep It Th... ](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/how-to-get-your-passwords-in-order-and-keep-it-that-way-part-1-of-5)
About the author
[  ](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/blogger/tony-underwood)
[Tony Underwood](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/blogger/tony-underwood)
[ ](https://cambiumdata.directivesites.com/blog/blogger/tony-underwood)
Tony Underwood, Founder and President of Cambium Data Inc. has proven himself as one of the top internetworking experts in the industry. Mr. Underwood began his IT career in 1991 in the US Navy working on critical military computer systems. He grew his computer and networking knowledge through a number of different IT jobs from desktop support all the way up to leading the Network Engineering organization of a multi-billion dollar international company. Mr Underwood was recognized as Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert [\#7112](https://connect.directive.com/v4_6_release/services/system_io/Service/fv_sr100_request.rails?service_recid=7112&companyName=Dti) in March of 2001 and in 2022 he achieved the lifetime status of Cisco CCIE Emeritus
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