🔓 Introducing Recovery Codes - Now Available!

dbalpert

I keep my Emergency Kit (which was generated when I signed up for 1Password) in a safe place now. Would you recommend having the Recovery Code in the same place, or is that redundant? Is the idea that this goes in a different safe place, or is it useful together?

ag_tommy

@dbalpert

That would be a highly personal decision. As for me, I keep the Emergency Kit and the Recovery Code with other important papers. A casual observer of my papers would not easily associate the two with one another.

There could be a reason where I need the Secret Key, and the Emergency Kit will give me that. If you've stored your password on the Emergency Kit, you can retrieve it from there if necessary. I think there is value in having ready access to both. My personal needs may not be the same as yours.

I typically think of my Emergency Kit as my first line of defense and the Recovery Code as my last (fail-safe) resort. I also have an additional family member who could assist me with account recovery if needed. For me, my levels of use are as follows:

• The steps below could be highly fluid, depending on the situations encountered.

1. Emergency Kit.
2. Account recovery from a family member.
3. Recovery code.

The most important thing is to ensure they are stored safely and securely, allowing you access when needed.

kurtd

I feel like the Recovery code will make accounts much less secure and easily compromised if an attacker were to get a hold of it. Now, I think this makes it important to enable 2FA which didn't seem as important before because with the Emergency Kit, they would need the code plus master password which was essentially a form of 2FA. Now, if we enable 2FA, we'll need to set up a family member to be able to reset it. Things just got more complicated in my opinion, correct me if I'm wrong.

Dave_1P

@kurtd

Recovery codes are designed to be safe and secure. A recovery code by itself isn't enough to access your account if it is found; identity verification using the email address associated with your 1Password account is still required. In contrast, a copy of your password and Secret Key - if stored together - could immediately be used to access your account, so there is a much greater need to protect a copy of these credentials than a recovery code.

Adding identity verification into the mix in addition to the existing knowledge factors is designed to make it easier to balance safe-keeping with accessibility in an emergency.

-Dave

omoua

Question, what is the font used for the 1Password recovery code? The reason I ask is that I printed it out, now entering into a secure note - but I can't figure out what is a zero and what is a letter. For instance, the "Q" looks exactly like the letter O and a zero.

GreyM1P

@omoua – When you download the 1Password recovery code, it's saved as a plain text file with no specific font. The font used when you print it will depend on what's set in your text editor (like TextEdit or Notepad).

omoua

Thanks for the update. I just created a new code but will be sure to change font next time on the printout.