How to keep each client's logins separate on Windows

When you work for several clients, their logins end up in the same place as yours: one browser, one saved-password list, one set of tabs. It works until it doesn't. A post goes out from the wrong account, a client asks you to hand everything back, or you realise a password you were given in an email two years ago still works.

This guide covers the free ways to keep each client's accounts properly apart on a Windows PC, starting with the one that matters most.

Quick answer: ask each client to give you your own access instead of their password, keep each client in its own browser profile, and store anything you do have to keep in a password manager, with each client's logins kept together.

1. Ask for your own access, not the client's password

The safest login is one you never hold. Many platforms let the account owner invite you with your own login, so nobody shares a password. Meta's business tools are a good example: the owner adds you through their business portfolio and chooses what you can do. They can remove you at any time.

Why it's worth asking

  • The client keeps ownership of their account.
  • When the work ends, they remove you. There are no passwords to change.
  • Your actions are tied to your own login, so it's clear who did what.

Where a platform doesn't offer this, agree with the client how their password will be shared and stored, plus who receives the sign-in codes.

2. Give each client their own browser profile

Chrome and Edge both let you create separate profiles. Microsoft describes each Edge profile as having its own tabs, favourites and logins. Each profile also has its own saved passwords and extensions, so one client's logins never show up while you're working for another.

How to set it up in Edge

  1. Click your profile picture in Edge's toolbar.
  2. Choose Set up new profile (or Add profile).
  3. Name it after the client and pick a colour you'll recognise.
  4. Sign in to that client's websites inside the new window.

In Chrome, click your profile picture at the top right and choose Add.

Good for

  • Several clients open side by side, each staying signed in.
  • Keeping one client's email, social accounts and tools together.
  • Ending a contract cleanly: delete the profile and its saved logins go with it.

Watch out for

  • Every client is a separate window, which gets busy past a handful.
  • Files on your PC are still shared, so keep a folder per client as well.

3. Keep passwords in a password manager, grouped by client

If you hold any client passwords, they shouldn't live in emails, notes or a spreadsheet. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recommends password managers because they make unique passwords for every account practical. Browser password managers work well if you mostly use one browser. A separate password manager app is better if you use several browsers or devices.

Tips

  • Use a folder, collection or tag per client, so it's obvious which logins belong to whom.
  • Protect the password manager itself with a strong password and two-step verification.
  • When a contract ends, delete that client's entries, or hand them over if the client asks.

4. Use a separate Windows account for strict separation

For a client with sensitive work, or one whose contract requires it, you can add a separate Windows user account. Microsoft notes that each account gets its own settings, documents and apps. Go to Settings → Accounts → Other users → Add account.

Good for

  • The strongest separation available on one PC: files, apps and browser data are all kept apart.

Watch out for

  • You have to sign out or switch user to move between clients, which is slow for day-to-day work.
  • Apps and settings need setting up again in each account.

5. Sort out two-step verification before you need it

Turn on two-step verification for every client account you're responsible for. Agree up front where the codes go. If they go to the client's phone, you'll be waiting on them every time a site asks. Where you've been given your own access (step 1), the codes go to you and the problem disappears.

When a client relationship ends

  1. Ask the client to remove your access from each platform.
  2. Delete or hand back any passwords you held.
  3. Delete their browser profile, or sign out of everything in it.
  4. Archive or return their files, as agreed.

Where Flowstio fits

We're building Flowstio because doing all of the above across several clients is a lot of windows to manage. Flowstio is a Windows app that gives each client or project its own space. Sign in to a website inside a project and Flowstio remembers it for that project only, so another project can be signed in to a different account on the same site, side by side. Flowstio doesn't store your passwords: you sign in yourself or add the password manager you already use. Each project also keeps its own tasks and files, so switching client switches everything at once. Flowstio is coming to Windows. You can try the demo in your browser now.

Which approach should you use?

You want to…Use
Avoid holding client passwords at allYour own access, granted by the client
Work on several clients at once, for freeOne browser profile per client
Store the passwords you do hold safelyA password manager, grouped by client
Keep one client completely apartA separate Windows user account
Keep each client's logins, tasks and files togetherA workspace app, or a profile plus a folder per client

Common questions

Is it safe to save client passwords in my browser?

For a single browser it's a reasonable option. The NCSC lists browser password managers as a good choice. Put each client in their own browser profile, so their saved passwords stay separate from yours and from other clients'.

Should I use the same password for all of a client's accounts?

No. Every account should have its own password. A password manager can create and remember them for you.

What if a client insists on sending me their password?

Ask whether the platform lets them add you with your own login first. If it doesn't, store the password in your password manager straight away, delete the message it came in, and agree who gets the sign-in codes.

Sources

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