It seems that a toggle in the Chrome app settings can remove or delete your saved passwords from all devices synced to your account. Members of the dev team confirmed that they will take action in this regard.
This is how you could accidentally remove all your saved passwords in Google Chrome
Last week, Redditor harish9294 reported a situation that ended very badly. After feeling that their browser was a little slow on their Pixel phone, they resorted to the “Clear browsing data” option. Their intention was to delete only data and cache, but they did not realize that, for some reason, “Saved passwords” was enabled by default. So, the Redditor touched the “Clear data” option.
Then, the Redditor realized that their password vault had been emptied. The passwords were removed not only from their Pixel phone, but from all their devices synced with their Google account. This is because Google Password Manager (GPM) synchronizes the changes you make between all your devices connected to your account. It can be quite useful to always have your passwords available. However, a poorly organized settings menu can cause situations like these.
The really serious thing about the matter is that the “saved passwords” toggle was enabled by default. After doing a quick check in my Chrome app, that item was disabled. However, I also noticed that it is easy to ignore whether it is enabled or not. In order to check it, you must tap on “More options,” but the “Clear data” option is before that menu.
A fix is on the way
Google’s support team could not do anything to help the affected user. Fortunately, the Redditor had a backup of most of their passwords on Bitwarden. In fact, they had moved from Bitwarden to GPM to enjoy a synced experience between all their devices. However, they ended up returning to Bitwarden after suffering this mishap.
After telling what happened on Reddit, another user created a report on the Chromium issues page. After a few days, Google team members confirmed that they will modify the Chrome menus to prevent you from accidentally removing your saved passwords. However, there is still no ETA for the rollout of the tweak.