Safer Password Editing in pwSafe – Huvisoft Help Center

This article describes the visible changes in pwSafe 12.5.0.

The main change is simple: pwSafe now keeps passwords out of sight more often while you edit an entry. It also makes actions that can replace a password harder to activate by accident.

Your existing passwords have not been changed. These changes affect how pwSafe displays and edits them, not how they are stored or protected.

What you will notice

Existing passwords are normally hidden while you edit an entry.
The eye button lets you temporarily show or hide a password.
Creating a password, choosing its policy, and viewing its history are now grouped in a Password Actions menu.
Sensitive custom fields receive the same protection as the password field.
Password-policy controls are clearer and work better with VoiceOver.
Notes preserve the words and punctuation you type instead of silently correcting them.

Existing passwords are hidden while you edit

Previously, opening an entry for editing made its password visible, even when you only wanted to change the title, username, URL, or notes. This could expose a password to somebody nearby without helping you complete your task.

Now, a password that already contains a value starts masked. This includes a password that pwSafe automatically created for a new entry. You can therefore inspect or edit the rest of the entry without first displaying its password.

Select the eye button when you do need to see or edit the password. When you move from the password to another field in the pwSafe window, pwSafe masks a temporarily revealed password again.

This temporary reveal does not change how the password is shown when you leave Edit mode. If you revealed the password before entering Edit mode, however, pwSafe respects that choice and keeps it visible during the transition.

What happens with an empty password?

An empty password box starts revealed because pwSafe knows that you need to enter something. This lets you check what you type without requiring a second “Confirm password” box.

If you are in a public place, the eye button is already available before you type. Select it first to enter the new password while it is masked.

What about “Always show passwords”?

The existing Always show passwords preference is still honored. If it is enabled, passwords continue to be visible when viewing and editing entries.

For most people who prefer passwords to stay hidden, the eye button is the safer way to reveal one only when needed. Enabling Always show passwords exposes passwords more broadly than a temporary reveal.

The eye button behaves more consistently

The eye button is now shown consistently, even before a password box has focus and while it is empty. This makes the show/hide choice easier to find.

The password box and its eye button behave as one control. Using the eye does not immediately make the password hide itself again. If a screen contains more than one password box, moving to another box masks the one you just left.

Long passwords and passphrases now remain on one line and scroll horizontally on Mac. They no longer appear to wrap into text hidden below the visible password box. Showing or hiding a long value also keeps your typing position intact.

These improvements also apply to other pwSafe password boxes that use the eye button, such as unlocking a safe and setting a safe password.

Password creation is now a deliberate action

The former create-password icon sat directly beside the password field. The updated field also needs an eye button for changing visibility. Putting two small controls there—one that only changes what you can see and another that replaces the password—would make the more consequential action too easy to choose by mistake.

While editing, pwSafe now shows a Password Actions button beside the password. Open it to find:

Create New Password
Password Policy…
Password History…

Putting these commands in a menu clearly separates changing visibility from changing the password. It also keeps three closely related actions together in one predictable place.

When you choose Create New Password, pwSafe enters the new password immediately and confirms which policy it used. You can choose the command several times before leaving the password field to try different results. pwSafe records the original and final password in history rather than filling history with every discarded attempt.

When you are not editing the entry, Password History remains directly available beside the password.

Password policies are easier to understand

On Mac, Password Policy… now opens a clearer panel. Available policies are listed on the left, with the selected policy’s rules on the right.

The Default policy and named policies belong to the safe and may be used by more than one entry. Their rules are shown for reference. Choose Custom when you want to change the rules for only the current entry.

pwSafe keeps a Custom policy while you compare other policies, so you can return to it without losing the choices you made. If the safe locks because of its timeout while policy changes are pending, those changes are preserved.

Sensitive custom fields receive the same protection

A custom field marked as sensitive now follows the same editing rules as the password field:

an existing value starts masked;
an empty value starts revealed so you can enter it;
the eye button temporarily shows or hides it; and
moving to another field masks a temporary reveal.

Ordinary, non-sensitive custom fields are unchanged.

Accessibility and help text are clearer

The new password controls include clearer names, descriptions, and help text. VoiceOver identifies the Password Actions menu, explains what it contains, and opens the intended menu without the entry row’s context menu getting in the way.

VoiceOver also identifies the password-policy list and policy-details area separately. The password-length control announces its label and value without the previous duplicate or confusing percentage announcement.

The new controls are translated into pwSafe’s supported languages.

Notes preserve exactly what you type

Notes can contain account details, recovery instructions, codes, or other text where punctuation matters. pwSafe now avoids silently replacing words, straight quotes, or hyphens while you type in Notes.

Spelling feedback and suggestions remain available, but you decide whether to apply them. Notes also switch more reliably between viewing and editing and retain the intended text style.

In summary

The updated editor reveals less information by default, makes password replacement more deliberate, and gives you a clear way to show a password whenever you need it. It preserves pwSafe’s convenient single-field password entry while adding stronger protection against shoulder surfing, accidental clicks, cluttered password history, and inaccessible controls.