Multiple entries in the Passwords category - how do I know which one is the 'right' one?

Endre

I just started using 1Password and used the Password Generator to fill in new passwords. Depending on the site, that seems to be much more complicated than it should be. Even though the passwords generated were well within the parameters the website required, some still wouldn't accept the new password and each time that happened, I would push the "Not Now" button to make sure that the new password was not saved. Eventually, (seemingly just as a matter of luck, since I can't see why it didn't work previously and then suddenly did) one of the passwords was accepted. As you can see from the screen grab below, those multiple passwords were still recorded. Now I want to delete all the ones that don't work but I'm afraid to delete the one that is working or I'll never be able to get in. I assume it is the top one in the pile, and I have put a red dot on the combination icon of the ones I think are unnecessary but still, I'm not sure if that is correct and what to do. Also, I would like to know how to avoid this problem of multiple combinations in the future. Any suggestions? Thanks for your help.

Megan

Hi @Endre,

I'm sorry to hear that you've been having trouble using the password generator to change your password. Unfortunately, some sites are less than clear about their password restrictions, so it can be difficult to determine what type of password is acceptable.

Now, the 'Passwords' category that you are currently viewing includes a record of all passwords generated by the password generator. So every time you use the 'Fill' or 'Copy' button in the password generator, that password is also saved into the Passwords category. This ensures that if 1Password doesn't ask you to save a new Login (or update an existing one) you won't be in danger of losing that password. Once these passwords are updated into Logins, they will be removed from the Passwords category. Of course, in your case, where you have generated multiple passwords for one site, you might be left with extras.

So, how do we determine which of these generated passwords is the active one? Well, first of all, let's change your sort method within that category. Just at the top of the list of passwords, you'll see a x items sorted by ____. Click on this and sort your items by Date created. I'm assuming that you stopped creating passwords after you were successfully logged in, so the top password for each site is likely the active one. You can test this by visiting the site and pasting the password in as a part of your Login. If it is successful, you can allow 1Password to save when it pops up, or use the 'Convert to Login' button in the Password entry. Once you have determined the correct password for a site, you can remove all the extra ones from the Passwords category.

I hope this helps, but we're here if you have any further questions or concerns!

Endre

Thank you for your kind help, Megan. If I understand you correctly, I can get rid of all the generated passwords that have the combination lock icon next to them once the successful password has been stored as a "Login". OR do I need to keep the last one of those as a backup to the one that is stored as a login?

Related to this problem, I just got off tech support with the credit card company. Maybe you can help figure out what is wrong. I have two credit cards with the same company - one is a Mastercard and one is a Visa. Logging into the respective accounts takes different password combinations and I wanted to make them more secure with 1Password. I was able to do the successfully with the Mastercard account (after multiple tries) but here is what happened with the Visa account. I got to the point where I could change the password and then I generated a new one with 1Password. That new password was accepted by the Visa bank and should then be the login. However, when I went to use that new password, 1Password puts it into the box but the Bank tells me that the password is incorrect. This happened multiple times. I had to get new, temporary passwords from their tech support just to log in and then I kept trying to either paste in the newer 1Password combination or generate some completely new ones to replace the older one. Nothing would work. Unfortunately, the guy at the bank's tech support was as dumb as a fencepost so he couldn't seem to understand what the problem was and after multiple attempts I went back to the old, simple and unsecure password, which works fine. It is exactly the same system for both the Mastercard and Visa account - just different login and password combinations so I can't understand what the problem could be. At this point I need to wait a few days before trying anything again because there were so many tries at resetting the password that even the tech support guy ran out of temporary passwords he could provide and rather than risk not being able to log in at all, I just went back to the simple password. If you have have any insight into what could be causing this I would appreciate your kind help. All best wishes, Endre

sjk

Hi @Endre,

@Megan‌ will be happy to hear she was able to help you. :)

I can get rid of all the generated passwords that have the combination lock icon next to them once the successful password has been stored as a "Login". OR do I need to keep the last one of those as a backup to the one that is stored as a login?

After you have a confirmed working Login item for a site/page, retaining any Password items for it could be more confusing than useful. If you want a backup of a working Login item for some reason, making a duplicate copy of it using Item > Duplicate (or its Command-D (⌘D) shortcut) is probably a better bet.

Related to this problem, I just got off tech support with the credit card company. Maybe you can help figure out what is wrong.

I'd be glad to help you figure out what's going wrong there. Which credit card company site/URL are you having trouble with?

I was able to do the successfully with the Mastercard account (after multiple tries) …

Is 1Password still working okay with that account? And are you using a Login or Password item?

… but here is what happened with the Visa account. I got to the point where I could change the password and then I generated a new one with 1Password. That new password was accepted by the Visa bank and should then be the login.

Did you ever get successfully logged in using that new password generated with 1Password?

However, when I went to use that new password, 1Password puts it into the box but the Bank tells me that the password is incorrect.

Did you check the item (was it a Login or Password item?) to make sure it had the correct password?

… I went back to the old, simple and unsecure password, which works fine.

Are you currently able to use 1Password to fill with that password and successfully log in?

At this point I need to wait a few days before trying anything again because there were so many tries at resetting the password that even the tech support guy ran out of temporary passwords he could provide …

It's unfortunate what you're able to try has to be restricted by limited temporary passwords. Financial sites never seem to run out of ways to make access more inconvenient for their customers.

Thanks in advance for answers to the questions for better understanding what's amiss there. I have some ideas in mind that could fix this and appreciate your help and patience with it.

All best wishes

All the best to you, too, Endre!

danco

Just a minor point. Like the Mac itself, 1PW's Trash keeps the items until one explicitly empties the trash. So you can recover if you removed the wrong password.

Megan

Hi @danco,

Good point! Further to that, 1Password makes daily backups, so your data is backed up no matter what you do. :)

Endre

Thanks for the comprehensive response. It turns out that there was something the bank's program didn't like about the 1Password generated passwords. I made a similar mishmash password up on a separate sheet and then copied and pasted that in. That sel-generated Password took fine and also worked fine when I went to use it as an 1Password login. Makes no sense but that is the way it is.

As to the previous question, now that I have all the logins fixed (marked by related company icons and the large horizontal arrows in the screen shot below) I want to get rid of the numerous ones with the little combination lock icon (marked by the small angled arrows). I may be slow, but I'm still not clear if I can get rid of all of those or if I still need to keep the final one that matches the saved login. Thanks for a clarification and for all your kind help.

Stephen_C

You should be able safely to remove any redundant passwords from the Passwords category by going to 1P4 > Help> Tools > Remove Redundant Generated Passwords. That will remove for you any password in the Passwords category which ia not specifically linked to a saved Login item, which is what I think you want to do.

Stephen

Endre

Thanks, Stephen for your kind suggestion. However, when I did that, 1Password told me that there were no redundant passwords to remove. The problem is that there are a whole bunch of unnecessary newly generated passwords - all of which were saved inadvertently (whether by accident or 1Password design) when the companies I was trying to generate passwords for failed to accept what the generator came up with. I can leave all those sitting there with no effect but they are simply clutter. On the other hand, I don't want to accidentally delete something that is vital. My question at this point really revolves around what is the actual content of all those saved passwords with the combination lock icon. It seems to me that I don't need them if I have already created successful logins. On the other hand, I worry that the last of those saved passwords needs to be there in order for the login to work properly, so were I to delete ALL of them, I would be losing that vital information.

Thanks, again for taking time to comment!

All the best,

Endre

Megan

Hi @Endre,

now that I have all the logins fixed (marked by related company icons and the large horizontal arrows in the screen shot below) I want to get rid of the numerous ones with the little combination lock icon

If all your Logins are working correctly and you aren't missing any generated passwords, you can clear out the Passwords category.

what is the actual content of all those saved passwords with the combination lock icon. It seems to me that I don't need them if I have already created successful logins.

The passwords stored in the Passwords category are generally just passwords with no other content (unless you have added any further details into the password entries.) Once the passwords are saved into Logins, there is no need for them to be in the passwords category as well. I would recommend signing into your Logins as a test, and once all sign-ins have been confirmed, empty out the Passwords category.

I hope this helps! :)

Endre

Perfect! That is the answer I needed to go forward! Thanks so much, Megan!!

Megan

Hi @Endre,

Happy to help! We're here if you have any further questions or concerns - have a great weekend! :)