Don't Forget Your Facebook Password!

The fact that it is easy to reset your Facebook password is no reason to take it for granted. If you lose access to the email address linked to your account, getting a new password can be troublesome. Use your password frequently and apply methods that make it easy to recall.

• Sign in with your password daily. If you rarely use a thing, you'll forget about it. Try to log into Facebook at least once a day from a safe computer (that is, one that you own and which others can't use without your permission). Enter your password manually or copy it (see further down). Even when you think you know your password by heart, keep at it. It's very important to exercise a new password too, because you are more likely to recall the previous one than the latest. If you change passwords, practice with the new one.

• Use a password you won't quickly forget. Even though auto-generated passwords are good because they are often quite strong, they are as difficult to use for the owner as they are for others to crack. Make it memorable. Memorable doesn't have to mean simple or merely alphanumeric. You can combine letters, numbers and symbols into a phrase you can memorize if you know the meaning of it.

• Use visual images (a common memory technique) to picture the password characters in your mind. For example, the letter B followed by the asterisk * may be imagined as a big bee flying near a star. Number 3 and letter K may be that number morphing into a kangaroo.

• Tell your browser to not save your Facebook password. One is apt to get lazy and forgetful when someone – or something – else does the work for us. Not saving your password will force you to remember it. If you don't want to type your password – say, in case you suspect there is a keylogger malware on the computer – store it in a secure password file, copy it and paste into the Facebook login page.

An exception goes for logging into Facebook via a public computer, or a borrowed computer or device. Use a one-time password instead of your regular password instead. Enter the latter only in a secure and private environment.