Add password visibility toggle or confirmation field when setting up encryption

Problem

When enabling end-to-end encryption (Tools > Options > Encryption > Enable Encryption), the user is asked to enter a master password. However, the password field is completely masked and there’s no way to double-check what was typed.

Right now there is no option to:

  • Show or hide the password while typing

  • Confirm the password in a second field

Since the master password is required to access encrypted notes, this can easily lead to mistakes, if someone accidentally types the password wrong during setup

Steps to reproduce

  1. Go to Tools > Options > Encryption

  2. Click Enable Encryption

  3. Enter a master password

  4. Notice that the password is hidden and there’s no way to verify what you typed before confirming

Expected behavior

It would help if users had some way to verify their password before continuing. A couple of common approaches could work:

  • Show / hide password toggle – an eye icon that temporarily reveals the password (similar to most login forms today)

  • Confirm password field – a second field where the user re-enters the password

  • Or a combination of both for extra safety

Possible solution

A simple show/hide password toggle might be the most straightforward option. It keeps the UI clean and follows patterns users are already familiar with. It would also allow people to quickly verify their password without needing to type it twice.

If needed, the same toggle could potentially be reused in other places where passwords are entered.

Why this might be helpful

This matters a bit more for Joplin because:

  • The master password can’t be recovered if it’s forgotten

  • Some users paste or generate complex passwords from password managers

  • A small typo during setup could mean losing access to encrypted notes

Question

If this sounds like something that fits with Joplin’s UX approach, I’d be happy to open a PR to implement the show/hide password toggle. Just wanted to check first if this would be a welcome change.

This will be fixed in Joplin 3.6. See Desktop: When enabling encryption without first setting the master password, there is no re-enter password field to validate the password was entered as expected · Issue #14659 · laurent22/joplin · GitHub which was fixed today

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