In January, we announced that Dashlane’s default desktop experience was going to be our browser extension and embedded web app. This move towards the web and away from our legacy desktop apps has allowed us to provide a superior autofill experience, made setup for new customers and new employees a breeze, and unlocked faster development of new and improved features.
The web-first Dashlane experience is already available to all customers. On January 10, 2022, we will sunset the legacy desktop apps and automatically log users out. From then on, users can access Dashlane on their computers via the browser extension and web app. This blog post is meant to centralize everything business account administrators need to stay informed on upcoming changes.
Quick review of our migration progress
After that January announcement, we lost no time building key features from the desktop app into the web-first experience, along with some brand-new features. A few key capabilities are listed below, but for a full recap of our year to date, you can check out our Q1 and Q2 product reviews.
- In May, we made our new single sign-on integration available for all existing customers, made UX improvements to our autofill and password generation experiences, and released the Sharing Center on the web app.
- In June, we released our Machine Learning Engine, which doubles the speed of our autofill and makes autofill and password capture nearly 10% more accurate.
- In July, we released Account Recovery within the web app and .csv export of all Personal Space items (passwords, IDs, payments, personal information, and Secure Notes).
- In August, we released an all-new native experience for Safari users, launched a brand new Resource Library for administrators, and now upon request can have your company’s new employees onboard to Dashlane on the web-first experience!
Through the remainder of 2021, we are working on:
- An all-new, work-from-anywhere VPN: Our new VPN experience is significantly faster, more reliable, and makes for a fantastic employee perk that also enhances your company’s security.
- Adjusting 2FA settings from the web app: Currently, users can only adjust their 2FA settings from the legacy desktop app (these policies do carry over to logins from the web-first experience).
- Password change history: Currently, users can view their last 20 generated passwords directly in the extension popup by going to the Generator tab. However, we want to give customers access to the full history of their generated passwords. This update will be released in the web app before the end of the year.
If you’re curious about a specific feature or policy, you can get more details in our Help Center.
Migration Checklist for Dashlane Administrators
To make the rest of the migration a breeze, we put together a short checklist for Dashlane administrators to follow to guide their teams to the web-first experience.
Step 1: Enable new employees to onboarding onto Dashlane through the web-first experience
If you can't find the email and want to implement this change now, visit our Help Center to learn more about our support options for Business plan users.
Step 2: Take advantage of new employee education resources.
While we are confident the web-first experience is superior to the legacy desktop apps, we can also appreciate that many people have set habits around how they use Dashlane. To make the transition smoother, we have created a number of new resources!
- We offer live trainings for your colleagues to learn the product (these trainings are in English only)
- For employees who want to skim something quickly, we recommend our Quick Start Guide
- For access to always up-to-date documentation, we recommend linking to our Help Center from your company’s internal website/wiki: https://support.dashlane.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403164856082-Getting-started-with-your-company-s-Dashlane-plan
- Sometimes, you just want to access a password without opening your browser. You can follow the instructions in this video to learn how to create a shortcut to the web app to pin it to your desktop, dock, or task bar.
Step 3: Give your team a heads up about upcoming changes.
As part of the migration, some of your colleagues will have to change the way they are using Dashlane. Communication is key, so while we are providing instructions within the app, it’s also important to give your team a heads up about the changes. Below is a templated message to send via chat or email.
We recommend sending this in October, when you may want to start getting your employees who already use Dashlane familiar with the web-first experience.
Hi all, there are a few upcoming changes to how our team will be using Dashlane.
Over the next few months, Dashlane is moving away from its desktop application and offering its full product through its browser extension and web app experience. If you are already using the browser extension, you’re basically already all the way there! Instead of using the desktop application to view the contents of your vault, you can do so by clicking on the Dashlane extension (the teal D browser extension) and selecting the option to Open the web app.
If you don’t use Dashlane’s extension, I can’t recommend it enough! Dashlane not only helps keep our company secure with strong passwords, but it’ll save you time every day by storing and autofilling passwords for you. No more password resets or asking a coworker what a shared password is!
My goal is to have everyone comfortable on the web-first experience, so the desktop app going away isn’t a big deal for our team. I have a bunch of resources on how to use Dashlane for anyone interested. In the meantime, check out the links below, and let me know if you have any questions!
– https://www.dashlane.com/blog/quick-start-guide
– If you want a more immersive experience, I suggest signing up for one of Dashlane’s live trainings
Step 4: Stay tuned for more updates from us!
We’ll continue to be in touch about upcoming changes and timelines. As a reminder, we will begin the desktop app sunset on January 10, 2022.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the web app secure?
The short answer is yes. The web-first experience is as secure as our desktop apps, and thanks to the review process of extension stores such as Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, you could argue there's even more attention paid to our app's security than ever before.
If you want to read more about the security of Dashlane, check out our CTO Fred's articles on web extension security (part 1 from January, part 2 from August).
Can I access Dashlane offline?
Even though Dashlane's new experience is web-first, it doesn't mean you can't access your vault if the internet goes out or you're on the move. Watch this video to learn how:
I don't see the extension. What should I do?
- Check if you have the extension installed. If you’re on Chrome, Edge, or Brave, click on the puzzle piece icon at the top-right corner of your browser to see if Dashlane’s extension has been installed. If you’re on Firefox, go to the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) and then click Add-Ons and Themes.
- If you have the extension installed, “pin” it to your browser bar so that it’s always visible. You can do this by clicking the small pushpin icon next to the name of the extension.
- If you do not have the extension installed, go to dashlane.com/download and follow the instructions.
Why is Dashlane moving to a web-first experience?
Transitioning to our web-only app gives our customers more reliable performance and simplifies the overall Dashlane experience without sacrificing feature richness. You’ll have one fewer app cluttering your desktop and be able to access what you need from Dashlane in your browser without hopping back and forth to the app. Think of it like moving your pots and pans to the cabinet right next to the stove—it just makes cooking easier!
Additionally, the transition has allowed us to move faster, and build more that ensure you and your team stay secure. Check out our Q1 and Q2 product recaps to learn about what we're recently released!
Are any desktop app features not being built into the web-first experience?
Though we are hoping to build these soon, there are a few features that we will not have in the web-first experience prior to the migration. You can read more about them in the Help Center.
- Emergency Contact
- Secure Notes templates
- Receipts
How do I delete the desktop app from my computer?
Deleting the legacy desktop apps is simple. We have instructions available on our Help Center.
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