A Safer Way to
Write Your Passwords Down
Published October 2026 · Last verified October 2026
If you'd rather keep your passwords on paper, that's allowed — and done carefully, it's far safer than using one easy password everywhere. This guide shows the right way to write them down: where to keep the book, what not to write, a system only you can read, and when a password manager becomes the better long-term step.
If you'd rather keep your passwords on paper, that's allowed — and done carefully, it's far safer than using one easy password everywhere. This guide shows the right way to write them down: where to keep the book, what not to write, a system only you can read, and when a password manager becomes the better long-term step.
What's inside this guide
The printable PDF walks through 28 short chapters, in plain language. It also includes an everyday cheat sheet, a plain-English word list and at-a-glance pictures.
- It's alright to write them down
- Why a notebook beats reused passwords
- What paper does well, and where it falls short
- Choosing your notebook
- Where to keep it — not on the monitor
- A safe or a locked drawer
- What not to write down
- A system only you can read
- A worked example of the shorthand
- Writing the passwords themselves well
- Keeping the book current
- One book, one place
- Telling a trusted person where it is
- A backup copy, kept apart
- If the book is lost or stolen
- Travel and the notebook
- Keeping PINs and secrets separate
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Scams that prey on written passwords
- Why a password manager is the better long-term step
- Easing into a password manager
- Blending paper and a manager
- Helping a parent set up their book
- Organizing the book so you can find things
- Paper that lasts the years
- A once-a-year tidy-up
- Putting it all together
- Frequently asked questions
Get the printable guide
Everything above is a quick summary. The full, printable guide — the same words, laid out to read and keep by the computer — is a free PDF.
Last verified October 2026. Information accurate as of October 25, 2026.
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