KeePass 2.59 brings native Windows 11 support, faster encryption, and enhanced security

KeePass 2.59 has launched as the latest release of this lightweight and open source password manager, delivering native execution on Windows 11 24H2 ARM64 (and later) systems and removing reliance on x64 emulation. This update also spices up database security and speed — thanks to the new KeePassLibN support library, which introduces native AES-KDF and Argon2 key derivation functions for Windows on x86, x64, and ARM64 architectures. When the native library is unavailable, a new C# AES-KDF implementation now runs up to 50 times faster than before.

Following these upgrades, major improvements arrive for database portability. The rewritten KeePass KDB import/export module in C# expands compatibility to ARM64 and Unix-like operating systems, and now supports importing and exporting both the default username and the database color field. When exporting to a KDB file, the root group is now included, improving backup and migration workflows.

While these core changes anchor the release, KeePass also introduces new browser integration features. URLs can be opened in private mode with Maxthon, SeaMonkey, and Yandex. For Unix-like platforms, some views render URLs as clickable links. Developers also benefit from framework-specific project files for Visual Studio 2022 and DLL plugin support in select snapshots. Other enhancements include a faster AES-based encryption engine and clearer UI architecture information, among others.