Accessing my passwords if I don't have access to my computer

CTond

Last night I used 1Password to change my master password on my MacBook to a long random password...I'm new to Macs and didn't realize that password is also the password I use to unlock my screen to get into my computer. Well, now I can't get into my computer! How do I access my passwords if I can't get into the computer that contains all of them???

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1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided
Referrer: kb-search:login to 1 password from another computer, ug:mac/new-computer, kb-search:changed my computer password now can't login to my computer

Drew_AG

Hi @CTond,

I'm sorry to hear you accidentally locked yourself our of your MacBook! Just to be sure I understand: You said you changed your "master password", which is the term we use to refer to the password that unlocks your data in the 1Password app. But it sounds like you changed the password you use to unlock your Mac (for example, when booting or restarting your Mac, or when turning off the screen saver). Is that correct? And if so, did you create & save that new Mac password in 1Password?

Although you only need to remember one password (your master password) to unlock 1Password, there are some circumstances when you may need to remember another password. Since you need to unlock your Mac before you can unlock 1Password, that's a good example of another password you would want to memorize. (I know that doesn't actually help with your current predicament, but I wanted to mention it for the future.) We have a good article about this on our blog: More than just one password: Lessons from an epic hack

Now, getting back to your question:

How do I access my passwords if I can't get into the computer that contains all of them???

This really depends on your specific setup. Do you have a 1Password for Teams or 1Password Families account? If so, your data is hosted on our secure server, and you can access your data from the web on any browser: https://start.1password.com/signin/

If you aren't using a Teams/Families account, are you using Dropbox or iCloud sync in 1Password on your Mac? If so, a copy of your data is in Dropbox or iCloud and you can sync that to 1Password on another device. Or have you ever synced your 1Password data to another device via Wi-Fi sync (or via the aforementioned Dropbox or iCloud sync)? If so, you should still be able to access your 1Password data on that other device.

Does that help at all? Please let us know if any of the above applies to you, and we'll be happy to give you more specific information about that. Thanks! :)

CTond

Yes...I'm learning. So it is my computer master password. I had not set up my "team" account, so I just have my personal. I synced my iPhone with the Macbook last night using Wi-Fi sync, but that was before I created this new login for my computer. I tried syncing the phone this morning, to get that new login but I get an error saying the computer can't be found and to make sure the computer is running 1Password with Wi-Fi synch option enabled...but I can't get into the computer to enable it.

danco

So the problem is that you can't access the computer itself. There are ways to reset the password, but they depend on what version of Mac OS X you are using, so I can't give a precise answer.

Try (on the iPhone) a Google search for "mac missing password" and see if any of the links helps you. Be warned that some of the links refer to old versions of OS X so may not apply.

AGAlumB

Indeed, and it won't be possible to do anything with 1Password unless you're able to access the computer in the first place, but I do hope you'll be able to overcome that obstacle. Restoring from a recent backup might be a good option.