2FA codes: why they matter and how to store them
Two-step verification stops most account takeovers. Here's how it works, which method to choose, and how to avoid getting locked out if you lose your phone.
Blog · Guides
How to share a password safely (and what not to do)
The Wi-Fi password for a guest, a dashboard login for your accountant, a streaming account for the family. Everyone passes a password along now and then - here's how to do it without leaving a trail.
What not to do
- Texts and messaging apps - the message stays in the history forever, on several devices and in backups.
- Email - it lands on mail servers and in archives, and it often gets forwarded.
- A sticky note - it gets lost, gets photographed, and the password on it never changes.
- A shared spreadsheet - one file with passwords to everything, copied and shared without any control.
The common flaw: you can’t take it back. A password you’ve sent stays with the recipient until you change it.
Two good ways
For a while: a link that expires
When a password needs to reach someone outside your account - a guest, a repair technician, or a contractor - use an encrypted link (in Inlockly, from the Personal plan):
- valid from one hour to 30 days, or one-time - the link expires after it’s first opened,
- only for specific email addresses - the recipient confirms with a code sent to their inbox,
- the recipient doesn’t need an account or the app,
- you can revoke active links with one click, and expired ones stay in the history for 30 days.
The key to the content is in the part of the address after the # sign, which browsers never send
to the server. Not even we can read what you share.
For good: a shared vault
When several people use the same data every day - your family or your team - a shared vault is the better choice:
- everyone has their own account and a private vault next to the shared one,
- you set permissions for each person, for example view-only for kids,
- at work, you can allow sign-in without seeing the password,
- when one person changes a password, everyone gets it instantly,
- leaving the group removes access to the shared data.
Which one to choose?
| Situation | Best option |
|---|---|
| Wi-Fi for a guest, an alarm code for a technician | One-time link |
| Access for your accountant during tax season | A 7–30 day link, only for their email |
| Streaming services and household bills | A shared family vault |
| Your team’s company accounts | Shared folders with permissions |
| A contractor for the length of a project | Access to a single company folder |
Share on your own terms. See how links with an expiration date and shared vaults work in Inlockly.
The Inlockly team
We write about password and data security the same way we build our app: practical, no scare tactics, no jargon.