Can I merge two vaults?

heinelg

I use 1Password on three computers with four users (all Macs). I thought I was using a common shared vault through Dropbox but apparently three users are sharing one vault and one user is using the other. There are a lot of common logins between the two vaults but there are a few that are different. Is it possible to merge the two vaults into one so that all users can use the same set of logins?

Thanks!

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1Password Version: 6.3.2
Extension Version: 4.5.9
OS Version: 1011.6
Sync Type: Dropbox

Pilar

Hi @heinelg

So, if I understand correctly you want to sync your 1Password data on 2 different user accounts in your Mac via Dropbox, is this right? If this is what you want then you definitely can just add the computer/user that's missing to also sync with Dropbox.

Keep in mind that when you merge the data, all the repeated logins will become duplicates. This is because 1Password doesn't make assumptions about which of the apparently equal entries you want to keep. It's better to save too much than too little when talking about preserving data as important as this. If you want to avoid having to sort the logins by hand after they've been merged and mixed, which can be a bit complicated, I'd recommend you to go through them before doing the merge and sending to te trash on the one computer not yet in sync the duplicates that you see. Once everything's ready you'll only need set up Dropbox sync for the new user and all your data will be the same everywhere :chuffed:

Please let us know how this goes, and if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

heinelg

No, that's not quite accurate. I have three computers: one is business, one is personal and one is a laptop shared between business and personal. I have two separate 1Password vaults in two different Dropbox accounts (one business and one personal). Two users/computers are synced with one Dropbox account while one user/computer is using the other.

I have eliminated the duplicate entries between the two vaults (not an easy task) and now would like to merge the two vaults into one and share it with all users/computers via Dropbox but I don't see any instructions for merging two vaults.

AGAlumB

@heinelg: If you're certain that you want to merge all of the data, this is really easy: simply disable sync on each device, select your preferred vault (for example, Dropbox/1Password/1Password.opvault), and then select the same one on each subsequent device. In each case, just select Merge and you'll be all set. Just be sure to delete the extra vaults when you're done, to avoid confusion in the future. Cheers! :)

heinelg

This didn't work! When I started I had 110 logins in the personal computer's vault and 127 in the business computer's vault. I selected the business computer's Dropbox vault as the new preferred vault in the personal computer and then selected sync with Dropbox and merge but the resulting vault still has 110 logins, and they are only the personal logins - I expected to see 237 logins with all the business and personal logins merged. I repeated the procedure on the business computer and now there are 107 logins and they are the personal logins not the business logins. I have not done anything to the laptop (other than disable sync at the start) and it still has the 127 business logins in its vault.

I ask again, how can I merge two vaults, without loosing any of the logins?

Thanks!

ag_kevin

Hi @heinelg ,

Before you try this, I recommend making a backup in the Backups preference tab in 1Password Preferences.

I have another suggestion. The only downside to this is that is may end up with duplicates that will have to be manually checked and removed.

Make a second vault on your Mac and set that to sync with the "other" 1Password file on Dropbox. So your Primary vault is syncing with the file it always has been, and your new vault is syncing with the other file on Dropbox.

Once you get that set up, switch to the second vault and copy all of the items into the Primary vault. When everything is in the Primary vault, you can switch to the second vault and delete it.

Then get others to sync to the correct file on Dropbox.

If that's ok for you, give it a try, otherwise let us know.

Cheers,
Kevin

heinelg

Thanks!

The other file is no longer on Dropbox as it was apparently overwritten when I tried to sync the two vaults. The only location it exists is the local data on my laptop, although it's probably in a backup on the Business computer.

I tried to find where the data was stored and found this discussion: https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/46558/how-do-i-find-the-location-of-my-1password-vault-file but the knowledgebase article doesn't exist anymore and when I search I only found information for PC, not Mac.

I think I found the data location by looking at Show Files under Preferences > Backup but what's the best way to copy a vault - just copy the latest backup?

Also, when I look at the backups on the Business computer the most recent backups show >250 items (the older ones show ~180 items). What is the difference between "items" and logins?

...

I just restored the backup from 11/24 on the business computer and now I have all my business logins back locally. I've created the second vault and merged it with the Dropbox version (personal logins). I selected them all but how do I copy them? under Edit, copy and paste are grayed out.

AGAlumB

@heinelg: Restoring from a backup will overwrite the current data, so be careful with that.

You can copy items from one vault to another by first switching to that vault, selecting the items, and then right-clicking to send them to another. Let me know if that helps!

And thanks for letting me know about the link! We don't have a similar article any more, but we may be able to forward it to something more helpful.

heinelg

Thanks @brently, I was finally able to finish this successfully when I had several hours of uninterrupted time. It would have been helpful if you had a Knowledgebase article that describes how 1Password works with a description of multiple vaults and syncing with Dropbox.

Drew_AG

On behalf of Brenty, you're very welcome! I'm glad that helped, and that it's all sorted out now. Sorry you ran into so much trouble up to that point, though!

If you need more help with 1Password, please don't hesitate to let us know. Cheers! :)