ProtonBlog(new window)

Update: As of December 2016, Proton Mail has switched to a single password system as the default. The two-password mode described in this article is still available and supported, but is no longer the default.

Proton Mail uses two passwords to secure your account: login and mailbox.

Login password

Your Login password is the first password you enter and it authenticates you and logs you into our secure system.(new window)
Your login password is the first password you enter and it authenticates you and logs you into our secure system.


MailBox password

Your Mailbox password is the second password you enter and this unlocks and decrypts your encrypted messages locally.(new window)
Your mailbox password is the second password you enter and this unlocks and decrypts your encrypted messages locally.


Secure your emails, protect your privacy
Get Proton Mail free

Related articles

passwordless future
With the advent of passkeys, plenty of people are predicting the end of passwords. Is the future passwordless, though? Or is there room for both types of authentication to exist side-by-side?  At Proton, we are optimistic about passkeys and have int
At Proton, we have always been highly disciplined, focusing on how to best sustain our mission over time. This job is incredibly difficult. Everything we create always takes longer and is more complex than it would be if we did it without focusing on
is icloud keychain safe
If you’re on any Apple device, you’re familiar with the iCloud Keychain, the Apple password manager. It’s a handy tool that stores passwords for you and helps you manage your logins.  For a program that stores all your most sensitive data in one pla
We recently announced that Proton Pass now supports passkeys for everyone across all devices. Universal compatibility is a unique approach to implementing passkeys, unfortunately. Even though passkeys were developed by the FIDO Alliance and the Worl
How to upload and share private video
Your private videos are for your eyes only. However, not all cloud storage services are good at storing videos securely, let alone privately. In this article we explain what you can do to keep file sharing companies from having access to the videos y
Many email services, citing security reasons, require a phone number for identity verification. This creates an unfortunate paradox in which you must give up a highly sensitive piece of personal data to Big Tech. But there are simple ways to create
Can you password-protect a folder in Google Drive?
Protecting a folder with a password is a simple yet effective way of securing files. You may wonder whether you can password-protect a folder in Google Drive. We explain what access controls Google Drive offers and what you can do to improve your sec