Ability to have primary and secondary vault on Windows just like Mac

jyoten

Why don't we have the ability to switch between primary and secondary vaults using Ctrl+1 or 2 (or something similar) like we do in Mac? I sorely miss this when I'm working on my windows machine.

MikeT

Hi @jyoten,

1Password doesn't work the same way on both platforms. On Macs, we have a centralized database file that stores all of your vaults and that allows you to unlock everything via the primary master vault, thus allowing you to effortlessly switch vaults without unlocking.

1Password on Windows opens your vault file directly, there is no centralized data storage, which means you have to lock and unlock vaults separately.

In the main application on Windows, you can switch via keyboard shortcuts like Control + 1 and so on as shown in this screenshot:

mrbubbles02

Hi @MikeT,

I have seen this same response from AgileBits in several threads from users request this feature - we appreciate the explanation as to why the behaviour is different on the Mac and Windows platforms, but this is a feature that is very convenient and drastically improves the usability of your product on Windows and clearly many users want it.

Are there plans to build such a centralized data storage for the Windows platform to implement similar auto-unlock behaviour of secondary vaults? If not, why not?

gflow

+100 for improved ease of use on Windows! We have established a shared vault for our use, but I've found that we often end up sharing passwords outside of 1pwd because of the burden of locating the password for the shared vault to switch vaults

AGAlumB

+100 for improved ease of use on -Windows- Mac!

@gflow, @mrbubbles02: Unsurprisingly, we also get requests from Mac users to 'do it the [1Password for] Windows way', so I guess the old saying is true: you can't please everyone! ;)

In all seriousness though, it is certainly something we will continue to evaluate and may change in the future, but it probably isn't something that will be overhauled in a point release; it would involve changes both to the UI and how 1Password works on a fundamental level. This was a design choice. In both cases there are pros and cons.

Unfortunately we haven't found one solution that everyone is satisfied with. Many appreciate the differences and unique strengths of each platform...but I can appreciate that some place a greater value on consistency. Thanks again for the feedback! :)

mrbubbles02

@brenty having maintained my own piece of software I understand, but in this case I find it hard to see how the addition of this feature would displease users ;) In the worst case, a simple settings checkbox for 'automatically unlock secondary vaults' could restore the old behaviour.

Although it might require some significant changes to the UI if/when this feature is developed, I strongly urge that it be added. It's not the first time that that I recommend 1P to friends & family and they are disappointed to find that 1P for Windows is just not on par with the clean look and convenience of the Mac version.

Thank you for considering the feature and I hope to see it in 1P 5 for Windows!

MikeT

Hi @mrbubbles02,

but in this case I find it hard to see how the addition of this feature would displease users ;)

Mostly, it has to do with the total and separate control of each vault. In the setup we have right now for Mac and iOS apps, you're effectively giving up the controls of the secondary vaults to the primary vault. This isn't acceptable for many folks and companies that wants separate everything for each vault.

When you add a secondary vault, we copy the secondary vault key to be re-encrypted by your primary vault password and store it into the local database file. That's how the unlocking secondary vaults feature work, we use your master password from the primary vault to unlock the rest of the data stored in the same database file. Many folks do not consider this as acceptable and want it separated, which would effectively kill the ability to unlock them all at once.

There are some edge cases like you can't change the vault password for secondary vaults, choose a different vault to be the primary and so on. In the Windows app, you are working on the vault directly, which means you can do anything you want with it; rename it, change the password, and so on.

We're learning from both setups and would like to come up with a solution that can fit the best of both worlds in the future for 1Password.