How to export your Bitwarden vault and move it to Barside

Bitwarden makes leaving easy: its vault exports to a plain CSV file from any of its apps. Barside reads that file, imports every website login with its two-step code, and helps you delete the export when you are done. This guide walks through it.

Before you start

Barside is a free desktop app with a password manager built in. Your logins stay encrypted on your own computer, protected by Windows on Windows and by your keyring on Linux, and they never go into Barside's backups, sync or AI features. Barside fills logins into Chrome, Brave and Edge on Windows and copies them on Linux. Bitwarden and Barside differ in a few ways that matter for the move:

• Bitwarden syncs across phones, browsers and computers; Barside Passwords stays on one computer.
• Bitwarden shares items with organizations and families; Barside has no shared vaults.
• Both make two-step codes and check passwords against data breaches.

You need Barside 1.50 or newer, which added the importer.

Step 1: Export your Bitwarden vault

Bitwarden's help page lists four export formats: .json, .csv, .json (Encrypted) and .zip (with attachments). Barside reads the .csv export.

In the web app:

1. Sign in at the Bitwarden web vault.
2. Go to Tools → Export.
3. Under Export from, choose My vault.
4. Under File Format, choose .csv.
5. Confirm with your master password. The file downloads.

In the desktop app: choose Export in the navigation menu, pick Export from and the .csv format, and confirm.

In the browser extension: open Settings → Vault options → Export vault, choose the format and select Export vault.

Bitwarden's CSV starts with the columns folder,favorite,type,name,notes,fields,reprompt,login_uri,login_username,login_password,login_totp. You do not need to change anything in it.

Step 2: Import the file into Barside

1. Open Barside Passwords: the key icon in Barside's title bar, or type pw in the search bar.
2. Choose Import from another password manager at the bottom of the window.
3. Pick the .csv file.
4. Barside shows what it found, such as Import 162 logins from Bitwarden, how many have a two-step code, and what it leaves out.
5. Choose Import 162 logins.
6. Choose Move the file to the Recycle Bin (the Trash on Linux), then empty it.

Barside reads the file in its main process and sends only counts to the window; the passwords themselves never reach it.

What comes along, and what stays behind

Bitwarden notes that only its JSON exports include cards, identities, stored passkeys and SSH keys, and that no export includes trash items or Sends. Logins for apps, with addresses such as androidapp://, have no website and are left out.

If Barside already has a login for the same website and username, it takes the new password, adds the two-step code from the file, and keeps the name you gave it. Importing twice does not create duplicates.

If something looks wrong

• "This file is not a password export Barside can read." You picked a JSON or encrypted export. Export again and choose .csv.
• Fewer logins than you expected. Read the lines that say what was left out. Notes and cards are not logins, app logins have no website, and a login with no username is skipped, because every login in Barside has one. Add those few by hand with Add login.
• Your work passwords are missing. They belong to your Bitwarden organization, which an individual vault export leaves out. Export the organization vault if your role allows it.
• A two-step code did not come along. The result counts codes Barside could not read. Edit the login, choose Add two-step code and scan the website's QR code again, or paste its setup key.

After the move

• Fill a login to test it. On a login page, open Barside Passwords and press Fill on Windows, or Copy username and Copy password on Linux.
• Run the leak check. In Password health, choose Check now. Like Bitwarden's reports, it uses Have I Been Pwned's k-anonymity range check, so only the first five characters of each password's hash leave your computer.
• Look at reused passwords. Barside lists logins that share a password; change those first. The password strength checker shows why some passwords are weak.
• Keep your Bitwarden account until you are sure. Then delete it, or keep the free plan for your phone.

Daily use after Bitwarden

The biggest change is where you fill passwords. Bitwarden fills from its browser extension and phone app. Barside works from the desktop: you open Barside Passwords on a login page, choose the account and press Fill; on Windows, Barside can also show a quiet notification when it sees a login form, if you turn on Offer help on login pages.

Two-step codes look the same in both: a six-digit code with a countdown, which Barside can fill into a code box on Windows or copy for you. For everything Barside's password manager does, see the password manager guide. For a comparison with paid managers, see the 1Password alternative.

Moving several vaults

If you also have passwords saved in your browser or another manager, import each export in turn. Barside merges them into one vault. See the guides for 1Password, LastPass and Chrome, or every format Barside reads.