How do I use website vault (?) on desktop and phones

HansL

Hello!

I have imported previous app passwords to the 1Password website. Fine! Now, I would like to keep passwords in that place only (online), and, if possible, 'service' desktop browsers (immediate need) and, later, an iPhone and an Android phone. But after reading tons of stuff, I have no idea what to do. Kindly help.

Firefox browser on Desktop. Oh, I have the 1Password add-on in Firefox.

Hans L

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1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided

HansL

Sorry! Here it is: 1Passsword version: for Win, not free (professional?), v 7.3.657. Extension version, can't find it, but it is the latest!!! OS: Win 10. No sync yet; guess that is what I am asking about. Hans L

littlebobbytables

Hi @HansL,

We'll certainly try our best to help but can you help me with a bit more detail as to the kind of assistance you're needing please. In order to ensure whatever we say is accurate for you as well could you let me know the name of the 1Password extension as it appears in the extensions screen of your browser. The reason for that request is we have two extensions and certain details do differ.

HansL

Hello Littlebobbytables:

Thanks for helping me with this. Here is the info you asked for:

1Password extension (desktop app required)
Extends the 1Password app on your Mac or Windows PC, so you can fill and save passwords in your browser.
v. 4.7.3.90

OK?

Hans L

HansL

If you need more detail, I can, I am afraid, not add much, just repeat that I need to know what step to take next to be able to use my website-based passwords (in a vault?) on my desktop (immediate need) and, later, on a couple of phones.

Thanks,

Hans L

littlebobbytables

Hi @HansL,

Thank you for the detail on the extension. Assuming all is well it should mean you have a 1Password button in the Chrome toolbar and that when you click on it a small helper menu appears. From there you will be able to select from your fillable items which include:

• Login
• Identity
• Credit Card

Technically Password items as well but those are the primary three for filling. A good place to start is our support page Use the 1Password extension to save and fill passwords on your Mac or Windows PC as it is focussed on the extension you have installed.

Now depending on how well the importing went you should have a number of Login items that work but it's hard to guarantee enough details made it over. Sometimes 1Password needs extra details in order to correctly determine what field to fill, details that go beyond simply knowing what the designated username and password are. Should you find a site where this is the case can you try manually saving a new Login item for me, our support page How to save a Login manually in your browser can help with this. Hopefully an item saved by 1Password does better and you can delete the imported item for the same site.

I hope that helps as a starting point, if you have any specific questions or issues please let us know.

HansL

Okay, I see what you are saying, but I have not expressed my problem well enough. I will restate.

I am probably mistaken, but I thought it could work like this:

My passwords would reside on a 1Password website (in a vault), and when I needed a password on my PC or on a phone, it would be automatically retrieved from the 1Password website. But now, I am starting to believe that this is not the way it works, although when I open my 1Password app on the PC, I get a message about an unsecure website (http in stead of https), but I also see an IP address (192.168.....), and I am thoroughly confused. (I also see my passwords in the app window, but when I click in the Firefox 1Password icon, the are no passwords in my PC vault.)

Now, if it does not work that way I describe above, do the passwords, instead, need to be in the vault of each device (PC and phones) and syncing between them needs to be done manually? If syncing is automatic, what triggers a sync?

Let me stop here, hoping that you understand basically where I am in all this. The question is, of course, where do I go from here?

Hans L

littlebobbytables

Hi @HansL,

Thank you, I think I understand a bit better now.

The basics on how a 1Password account works are as follows. Our server's primary purpose is to store your encrypted data. By itself it cannot do anything, it requires a client to connect. We have native applications for macOS, iOS, Windows and Android. We also have the 1Password X extension. It's technically a client too but I haven't listed it with the others because it only requires either Firefox or a Chromium based browser and isn't a native application like the others. The original motivation behind 1Password X was to allow us to support the likes of ChromeOS and Linux, operating systems where we didn't have a native application.

After you connect a client to your 1Password account the first thing it does is pull down all of your encrypted data. The client serves as the primary way of working with your data and filling. On macOS and Windows the native application cannot interact with the browser directly so it requires an extension. That's where the companion extension comes in. It's basically a bridge between the browser and 1Password, passing a description of the page to 1Password and completing any filling actions sent back. 1Password X on the other hand handles both syncing to our server and filling as it was initially designed to work where 1Password for Mac and 1Password for Windows weren't available.

Without the client you're left with just the web interface and it would be nothing more than a nice looking database that happened to be encrypted but still basically useless. It's the clients and the extension that bring the value.

It's also worth noting 1Password doesn't automate a lot. By that I mean 1Password won't automatically fill a page just because you visited it, we always require the user initiates filling. By doing so we help to combat certain ways of trying to extract sensitive information. It has been shown more than once that it is possible to trick automated filling to fill hidden fields. If filling is completely automated and the fields are hidden you don't even know it has happened. By leaving filling in the user's control we limit the potential of this attack as you will only ever ask 1Password to fill when it's required. It doesn't make 1Password completely immune if somebody has compromised the sign-in form of a site but it drastically reduces the potential for damage.

1Password also does not automate the changing of passwords. It will assist though through the Password Generator and what should happen after is a prompt to update the Login item.

You will quite likely have a few more questions but my hope is that brief overview of what 1Password is will help you begin to understand what 1Password can do to help.