Duplicate vaults, only one shows up in online account (and the other syncs via iCloud)

Maggie_too
Maggie_too
Community Member

Hi I have two problems whose solutions may be inter-twined so I will describe them together…

First, I have 2 vaults (Personal and Primary) but that was always unintentional. I wish they could be merged, as it creates a lot of confusion/hassle. (I can’t even remember how this duplication situation arose, I think it was during some upgrade confusion years ago). When I log onto my account on the website, I only see the Personal one. On my mac or iPhone, I can toggle between both. In the Preferences panel on my Mac, it appears that the Primary vault is syncs via iCloud. To reconcile them do I have to go through all 400+ items in the Primary and edit/save with vault changed to Personal (or vice versa)? ANd then it seems I would need to switch the iCloud sync to Personal, but it doesn’t even show up as an option in the sidebar.

Second, I only recently realized that I have a website Account Password that differs from my Master Password. While my Masters Password is pretty secure and is something that I own’t forget, the Account Password is bad... a re-used password that has been involved in at least one security breach. So I am eager to change my Account Password, but am a little worried about doing so without understanding my 2 vaults issue, since in my online account only the Personal vault shows up. While my Master password is memorable, should I set the Account password as one of the super-complicated “suggested” passwords? Memorizing a separate Account Password sounds difficult, since the need to use it hardly ever arises. (I guess I fundamentally don’t understand why there are separate Master and Account Passwords).

Lastly, I have never understood the Emergency Kit very well… It seems that if I printed out my Secret Key and Master Password then anyone who broke into my file cabinet would have access to everything? I am not sure how others approach this.


1Password Version: 7.9.2
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: macOS 11.6

Comments

  • Hello @Maggie_too! 👋

    A "Primary" vault is a standalone vault that isn't part of a 1Password account. Standalone vaults were used before we introduced 1Password accounts. The "Personal" vault is part of your 1Password account.

    Do you see all of the same items in both the Primary and Personal vaults? If they both contain different items then I recommend that you migrate your items from the Primary standalone vault to your 1Password account using this guide: Migrate your existing 1Password data from standalone vaults to a 1Password account. Once your items are migrated you can remove the Primary vault.

    If there are duplicate items in both the Primary and Personal vaults then you'll likely need to manually go through and remove the duplicates.

    Second, I only recently realized that I have a website Account Password that differs from my Master Password.

    The 1Password for Mac app will unlock using the password of the first vault or account added to the app. It sounds like you were using the Primary vault before signing up for a 1Password account and that's why you're being asked for a different password to unlock the 1Password for Mac app and 1Password.com. Once you migrate your Primary vault to your account you'll use your account password to unlock the app.

    I recommend making sure that your account password is strong and unique. Here are two articles that will help:

    Lastly, I have never understood the Emergency Kit very well… It seems that if I printed out my Secret Key and Master Password then anyone who broke into my file cabinet would have access to everything? I am not sure how others approach this.

    It's important to keep your Emergency Kit in a safe place. For example, if you keep the Emergency Kit locked in a personal safe then it'll be safe even if your apartment or house was broken into. You can also print out the Emergency Kit without writing down your account password if you're confident that you won't forget your account password.

    Let me know if that helps. :)

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