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Bitwarden, FAQ

This is an FAQ for Bitwarden Password Manager
Personal Account Sign On
Enterprise Single Sign On 

Bitwarden is the university's preferred password manager.  Bitwarden is a password management service that stores sensitive information and credentials, such as websites and resource accounts. To utilize the Bitwarden Illinois Organization, an assigned collection/vault must be created for your department, team or project. The creation of this assigned vault (also known as a collection) must be requested via go.Illinois.edu/bitwarden-request.

If your department does not need a shared collection, individuals may create a personal account using their @illinois.edu email address. These accounts may be created through Create Account/Bitwarden Vault. Personal accounts are not included in the Bitwarden Illinois Organization and do not have the ability to use Single Sign On. 

If you experience difficulty using Bitwarden or need a disability-related accommodation to utilize the solution, please contact techservices-iamu@illinois.edu.

When would I need to request Bitwarden for my department/team/project?

  • Manage password credentials to multiple applications and resources for a specific department, team, or project.
  • Provision Request form can be found at go.Illinois.edu/bitwarden-request

Best Practices

  • If you are experiencing difficulties with Bitwarden, please email techservices-iamu@illinois.edu
  • Collections are to control permissions.  Collections should not be used to organize your secrets.
    • The recommendation is to use the naming convention to sort your secrets rather than multiple collections.
    • Naming conventions are easier to search using the browser plug-in and the web client.
    • Currently, folders are only implemented for the personal vault; folders for the organizational vault are a pending feature request, once implemented, this would allow folders to be used to organize the secrets. You can go to https://community.bitwarden.com/t/shared-sub-folders-to-organize-items-inside-collections-nested-inheritance/873 to express interest in this feature. 
  • Authman (Grouper) is authoritative. AD groups will not be used to populate Bitwarden.
    • If a person is removed from the Authman Group and re-added, you must submit an email to techservices-iamu@illinois.edu requesting that person's access be restored. 
  • All roles for Bitwarden will be assigned as "Users." 
  • If a full collection needs to be shared with someone outside of your department, a virtual team will be created for that purpose in Authman under your department's folders.
  • Projects are listed under the project number assigned by the PMO, and are separate from departments.  If you need to adjust the members of a project team, please email techservices-iamu@illinois.edu
  • If you have multiple Bitwarden instances, you can use different profiles to switch between different Bitwarden instances.  If you have questions, please email techservices-iamu@illinois.edu 
  • Sends are disabled, there are no security controls currently, so it has been turned off.
    • If you need to share a single password with a person or group, continue to use PEAR.

Forgotten MasterPassword and Collection Information

  • If you forget your Bitwarden MasterPassword and you are a member of the Illinois Organization, please email techservices-iamu@illinois.edu to have the password reset. 
  • If you are not a member of the Illinois Organization and have a free Bitwarden account using your @illinois.edu email address, please contact Bitwarden Support for assistance in resetting your MasterPassword. 
  • If your group or department needs a new Collection, please email techservices-iamu@illinois.edu requesting the addition of the Collection.  If your group controls your Authman groups, please include the Authman Path of the new Collections group. 

Instructional Documents and Helpful Hints 



KeywordsBitwarden Password Manager MasterPassword Collection   Doc ID132706
OwnerIdentity and Access ManagementGroupUniversity of Illinois Technology Services
Created2023-11-10 09:25:48Updated2024-10-29 13:29:51
SitesUniversity of Illinois Technology Services
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