Storing API keys securely anaconda3

I have anaconda3 version 2024.10 installed on my laptop. I have ctreated a couple of environments. I need to store API keys as a dictonary. I created a "env.txt " file with the desired information. I was hoping to use the python-dotenv feature to recall the necessary information. I am not sure how to set up a “.env” file in my environment. Any suggestions or alternatives would be greatly appreciated. Thank you