How to Export Chrome Passwords

Chrome’s password export is no longer on Chrome’s own passwords page. It lives inside Google Password Manager: open the three-dot menu, go to the passwords/autofill entry, open Google Password Manager, open its Settings, then choose Export passwords and select Download file. Chrome makes you confirm with your device credentials first, and what lands on your disk is a plain, unencrypted .csv file that anyone who opens it can read.

Export from Chrome on a Windows PC#

The route Google documents starts in the browser menu. Open Chrome, select More (the three dots at top right), then the passwords and autofill entry, then Google Password Manager, then Settings. Scroll to Export passwords and select Download file.

One wrinkle worth knowing before you go looking: Google’s desktop help page labels that menu item “Passwords and autofill,” while its Android page labels the same feature “Autofill and passwords.” The words are shuffled, the destination is the same. If you would rather skip the menu entirely, typing chrome://password-manager/settings into the address bar drops you on the same screen. That shortcut is stable, and Bitwarden’s migration guide points people to it, but it is not part of Google’s documented route.

Chrome then asks the operating system to verify it is really you. On Windows that is the standard Windows security prompt: your account PIN or password, or Windows Hello where you have it set up. This step is not optional, and it is not the same thing as the “Use Windows Hello when filling passwords” toggle, which is off by default and only governs autofill. Export triggers the operating system prompt either way.

After you clear the prompt, Chrome opens an ordinary Save As dialog with the csv extension already forced, so the file goes wherever you point it. Windows starts you in C:\Users\<your name>\Downloads by default. Note where you put it.

Export from Chrome on an Android phone#

The Android path runs entirely inside the Chrome app, which means it is identical on a Pixel, a Samsung Galaxy and a Xiaomi phone.

Open Chrome, tap More at the top right, then Settings, then “Autofill and passwords,” then Google Password Manager. Tap Settings at the bottom of that screen, choose “Export passwords & passkeys,” and tap Download file.

Android adds one requirement desktop does not: the phone needs a screen lock. Google is explicit that you need a PIN, pattern or fingerprint on the device to export, and if you do not have one, the flow stops and asks you to set one up. That part does vary by manufacturer. On a Pixel it is Settings, then Security & privacy, then Device unlock, then Screen lock, where a PIN is four digits or more and six is recommended. On a Samsung Galaxy it is in the Lock screen section of Settings, under Screen lock type, which newer One UI versions label “Lock screen and AOD” and older ones label simply “Lock screen.”

Android hands the file to the system save dialog, and Downloads is where it usually ends up. To open it you will need a file manager, which is the other thing that changes by phone: Files by Google on a Pixel, My Files on a Samsung.

When “Export passwords” is missing or nothing happens#

Most of the trouble with this feature comes down to five situations.

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
The export option is missing or unavailable	The Chrome profile is managed by a work or school organization	Google lists an enterprise policy as a documented reason export is unavailable; switch to a personal Chrome profile or ask IT
You select Download file and nothing happens	The operating system prompt was canceled or failed	Run it again and enter your Windows account PIN or password (or your phone’s screen lock) when asked
Android stops and asks you to set something up	There is no screen lock on the device	Set a PIN, pattern or fingerprint, then repeat the export
The CSV is missing accounts you expected	Wrong Chrome profile or wrong Google Account	Check the profile avatar; Chrome saves to your Google Account when signed in and to the device when signed out
The password screens look broken on Android	Google Play services is out of date	Update Google Play services; Chrome’s password storage is moving into it, and an outdated copy leaves those screens misbehaving

Two things people try that will not work. Google Takeout and Chrome’s general data export do not include saved passwords at all; Google’s own page for it points you back to Password Manager settings. And copying Chrome’s internal Login Data file out of your profile folder is not an export either, since Chrome encrypts that store against your operating system account. The third-party utilities that promise to read it are a malware risk and worth avoiding entirely. If Chrome is also refusing to save new logins in the first place, that is a separate problem covered in why Chrome stops saving passwords.

What is actually inside the CSV#

Chrome writes five columns, in this order.

Column	What it holds
name	The site or app the entry belongs to
url	The sign-in address Chrome matched the entry to
username	The account name or email you sign in with
password	The password itself, in plain readable text
note	Anything you added to the entry’s note field

That fourth column is the whole reason to be careful. There is no encryption, no password on the file, nothing packaged or protected. It is a spreadsheet of your logins. Passkeys are a different kind of credential and are worth handling on their own terms rather than assuming a CSV carries them across; if you are still setting those up, start with how passkeys work and how to turn them on.

Import it somewhere else, or back into Chrome#

Most password managers accept a CSV import, but the details vary: some list Chrome as a preset format, others ask you to match Chrome’s columns to their own fields. Either way, the column order above is useful to have in front of you.

To bring a CSV back into Google Password Manager on desktop, take the same route (More, passwords and autofill, Google Password Manager, Settings), then look under Import passwords and click Select file. On Android the equivalent is Settings at the bottom of Google Password Manager, then “Import passwords and passkeys,” then the option for uploading a csv file, then Import.

Google only accepts .csv, and the first line of the file has to contain the column names url, username and password. Its stated import limits are 3,000 passwords at a time, with a Google Account holding up to 10,000 in total, so a very large collection has to be split across several files. Those are limits on bringing passwords in, not on getting them out.

Delete the file as soon as you are done#

Google’s warning is blunt: if you do not delete the exported file, anyone who uses that device can open it and read your passwords.

Delete it the moment the import finishes. On Windows, hold Shift and press Delete to skip the Recycle Bin, or delete normally and then right-click the Recycle Bin and empty it. That removes the file entry, though on an SSD or with shadow copies enabled the underlying data can survive for a while, so the honest goal here is “not sitting in a folder,” not “erased beyond recovery.” Do not email it to yourself, park it in cloud storage, or leave a copy on a USB stick in a drawer.

An export is a moving job, not a backup plan. Both CISA and the FTC recommend keeping credentials in a reputable password manager protected by one strong password and two-factor authentication, which is a far better resting place than a spreadsheet. If you are exporting because you are shopping for one, our rundown of what a password manager actually does covers the trade-offs, and it pairs well with how to build a password worth protecting.