If all devices and iCloud password lost, how to restore?

jinwai

Hi,

This does not happen to me yet, but this scenario comes to my mind.

If one day, all of my devices (iPhone, iPad, Macbook) were lost. 1Password is synced to my iCloud. However, Apple / iCloud password and security questions were of course very complex to remember, thus were saved in 1Password too. In this scenario, all devices and iCloud password were not accessible. How can I retrieve / restore my 1Password?

---

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

AGAlumB

@jinwai: You can't. In order to access your 1Password data, you need at least two things: the vault (whether stored in iCloud or locally on a device) and the Master Password to decrypt it. No matter what (fire, theft, hardware failure, etc.) this is unavoidable, much the same way as you need both a key and the house to "access" your home. If you lose the key or the house burns down, you're out of luck. Except a house can be broken into. 1Password has no backdoor.

So it sounds like what you need is a backup strategy. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket, or keep all of your devices with your 1Password data in a single place where they can all be taken away in one fell swoop. Backup your data. Store a backup offsite. Keep an emergency kit with your Master Password and vault in a safe deposit box. Whatever it takes. Your data is too important to do any less.

However, you may want to consider a 1Password subscription, since it will give you access to all of the apps, the web interface, and does away with license management and sync configuration altogether — you simply login to your account to authorize a device and access your data:

1Password.com

And most importantly, it solves half of that equation: your encrypted data is stored securely at 1Password.com and backed up automatically, so that you never have to worry about storing it yourself. You just need to keep an Emergency Kit in a safe place in case disaster strikes, so that you can use it to login to your account and access your data.

I hope this helps. Be sure to let me know if you have any other questions! :)

jinwai

Hi
I think my scenario apply to many people around the worldwide. I bring my iPhone, iPad and MacBook in a laptop bag together for travel or to office. Although I have synced the 1Password data in multiple cloud backup destinations such as iCloud, Tresorit, CrashPlan etc, we store all these cloud backup password in 1Password. Although we remember our 1Password Master Password, we cannot retrieve the 1Password data in the cloud backup in the 1st place.

Backup 1Password data off site means data might be outdated. So 1Password subscription might be the only option. However, login to 1Password online need username, master password and a key. I assume the key is also a complex combination which we will not remember since we will not use the key daily like Master Password. We will not remember the key, so we still cannot login to 1Password online. Am I correct?

danco

You could keep a physical copy of the key. After all, even if your wallet is stolen as well, the thief will not know what the key refers to, and anyway a thief would need both account key and master password.

Or keep the key in a backup in the cloud separate from your main cloud backups. You will need a password for that cloud service, but using the Words option of 1PW's password genertor will produce a password that is both memorable and secure.

jinwai

I think my best option is to install 1Password in a desktop to sync. At least it is a desktop computer which is not as portable as mobile or tablet. That should avoid the scenario where I can lost all devices at once.

pervel

I have my most important passwords written down on a piece of paper that is stored in a safe place. Not a lot of passwords. Just enough so that I'm not locked out of the rest of my passwords. That's of course a bit of extra bookkeeping - but better safe than sorry!

AGAlumB

Hi I think my scenario apply to many people around the worldwide. I bring my iPhone, iPad and MacBook in a laptop bag together for travel or to office. Although I have synced the 1Password data in multiple cloud backup destinations such as iCloud, Tresorit, CrashPlan etc, we store all these cloud backup password in 1Password. Although we remember our 1Password Master Password, we cannot retrieve the 1Password data in the cloud backup in the 1st place.

@jinwai: Precisely. It's a "chicken/egg" scenario. You need to get your backed up data with 1Password in it, but you need the 1Password data to know the password to login. It's time to get back to the basics: if 1Password is the "key" to your digital life, you'll need to keep an emergency kit with any information you'll need to access it. What exactly that entails depends on your setup though.

Backup 1Password data off site means data might be outdated. So 1Password subscription might be the only option. However, login to 1Password online need username, master password and a key. I assume the key is also a complex combination which we will not remember since we will not use the key daily like Master Password. We will not remember the key, so we still cannot login to 1Password online. Am I correct?

You're correct, and this goes back to the emergency kit. While you're right that an offsite backup can become outdated if it isn't automated or kept up with manually, it's still better than no data. While I certainly add/remove/change things in 1Password occasionally, these aren't broad, sweeping changes across the board, just a few bits here and there. So even an out of date vault backup stored in a safe deposit box (in case, yknow, I die) will be much better than none at all. But with 1Password.com, I don't need to store an outdated copy of my data, because the up-to-date information is available through 1Password.com directly.

I think my best option is to install 1Password in a desktop to sync. At least it is a desktop computer which is not as portable as mobile or tablet. That should avoid the scenario where I can lost all devices at once.

I agree that this helps with the travel scenario where you lose everything with you, but I think it would be best to diversify. This is like when the US President and Vice President don't travel in the same plane, in case it goes down; even America has a backup. After all, you're likely to have all of your other devices with the desktop now and then, where fire, theft, or some other misfortune may befall them all.

I have my most important passwords written down on a piece of paper that is stored in a safe place. Not a lot of passwords. Just enough so that I'm not locked out of the rest of my passwords. That's of course a bit of extra bookkeeping - but better safe than sorry!

@pervel: That's certainly reasonable. And it's likely that these don't change often anyway — especially if they are long, strong, and unique already. :)

jinwai

@brenty Thanks for the very detail comment and explanation. Appreciate that. :-)

AGAlumB

Any time! Anything we can do to make our digital lives less stressful is a blessing. ;)