master password question

chadgraue

My wife had to use my computer and logged into my 1password with her master password and now I cannot log into my 1 password on my Macbook with my master password. I have to use hers. how can i change that back?

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

Vee_AG

Hi @chadgraue,

Do you and your wife have separate 1Password vaults on your computer? Each vault only has one Master Password that can unlock it, so it sounds like she may have switched vaults. If so, you can switch vaults by selecting from the menu bar 1Password > Switch to Vault... and then select your vault and enter your Master Password.

I look forward to hearing how that goes for you! :)

chadgraue

hmm..no we do not. Basically set it up, I think..., and it worked fine until she used my computer.....where we each had out own password we used to access the SAME vault on different computers. And we use the same dropbox backup..

I don't even see the option to switch vaults under the 1Password menu.

Thanks for your help @Vee !

Drew_AG

Hi @chadgraue,

Just to make sure I understand - it sounds like you have just one vault in 1Password, and you & your wife share that same vault and sync it between different computers using Dropbox sync. It also sounds like your wife uses a different master password to access that vault on her Mac than you had been using on yours. But once she used her master password to unlock 1Password on your Mac, it now only accepts her master password and no longer accepts yours. Is that all correct?

If so, it's actually normal (and expected) behavior for the same master password to work with the same vault on different computers/devices, so I'm a bit surprised you were each using a different master password before now. But there are some circumstances where that might happen. For example, if your wife had originally used your master password, and then changed it in 1Password on her Mac, that change wouldn't take effect on your own Mac until you unlocked 1Password with the new master password. In the meantime, other changes to your vault would still sync normally.

Could that possibly explain what happened?

chadgraue

YOU got it bud! Thanks.

So is my best course of action to just keep using the master password we generated for her to access 1password on my macbook pro and continue using the master password I was using when I access it on my phone?

I'm gathering there's not a way for me to go back to using MY master password on my mac,

Thanks for your help @Drew_AG

Drew_AG

Hi @chadgraue,

You're very welcome, I'm glad that explained what happened! :)

So is my best course of action to just keep using the master password we generated for her to access 1password on my macbook pro and continue using the master password I was using when I access it on my phone?

Well, I would actually say the best course of action is to use the same master password on each device syncing with that same vault, because that's essentially how it's supposed to work. If you change the master password on one device, that change will sync to your vault in Dropbox and will try to sync to other devices.

However, before the new master password starts working on another device, you need to unlock it with the old master password, allow it to sync, lock 1Password, then unlock it with the new master password. Therefore, if you don't enter the new master password, the old one will continue to work on that device (which is what's currently happening on your iPhone). But that will only work until you unlock it with the new master password, and then the old one will no longer work (which is what happened on your Mac).

I'm gathering there's not a way for me to go back to using MY master password on my mac

Actually, there is: If you really want to go back to using your old master password on your Mac, you can change the master password back to the one you had been using (from the main 1Password app on your Mac, go to Preferences > Security > Change Master Password). Your wife will still be able to unlock it on her Mac with her current master password unless/until you or she unlock it on her Mac with your "new" master password. (It's a little confusing to explain, but I hope that makes sense!)

Just keep in mind that this isn't really the way it was meant to be used - you're essentially skipping the step that completes the master password change on other devices. Right now, the copy of your vault in Dropbox is associated with your wife's master password, so that's currently the master password you would need to enter if you installed 1Password on a new device and wanted to sync your data from Dropbox, or if you disabled/re-enabled Dropbox sync on one of your existing devices.

I really hope this all makes sense - it's a little confusing and can be tricky to describe! But if you have further questions about that, we'll be happy to go into more detail about how that all works.

chadgraue

Yep...i did exactly what you suggested on my Iphone, logged in with old 1P, synced, locked, opened with new 1P, and locked...and tried old 1P and could not get in. So we will just use the 1 master password across all devices.

Thanks again! Ya'll are the best

littlebobbytables

I'm happy to hear Drew was able to help clarify matters here @chadgraue if you have any other questions at all please don't hesitate to ask and we'll get Drew right on it :wink:

Actually we'll all try and help, I'm just joking about forcing you to wait for him.

RichBT

"However, before the new master password starts working on another device, you need to unlock it with the old master password, allow it to sync, lock 1Password, then unlock it with the new master password."

I think this information should be in the User Guide or Frequently Asked Questions.

Drew_AG

Thanks for the suggestion, @RichBT! I agree, I think it would be helpful to explain that in our user guide or knowledgebase somewhere. I'll let our documentation team know about that. :)

RichBT

I was looking at this thread because I need to change a family member's master password to something stronger yet more memorable, and I couldn't find the information in the documentation.

I know writing and maintaining good, understandable and up-to-date documentation is hard, hard, hard. Keep up the good work!

Drew_AG

Hi @RichBT,

If you're looking for steps to change a master password, we actually explain how to do that here: How do I change my Master Password?

Changing a master password on one device is pretty easy, but making sure that change is reflected on other devices can take a couple more steps. I sent a request to our documentation team about that, so hopefully we'll have that information in our knowledgebase at some point.

I know writing and maintaining good, understandable and up-to-date documentation is hard, hard, hard. Keep up the good work!

Thank you so much for saying so! I'll definitely forward that to our documentation team, they'll be very happy to know their hard work hasn't gone unnoticed! :)

ref: DOCS-546