Alternative to Dropbox for Mac-Windows syncing?

Jim_here

My insanely security-conscious employer has disabled Dropbox on work computers. I use Windows at work and Mac at home. Is there any way for me to continue to use 1Password at work and be synced?

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1Password Version: 4.6.1
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Windows 7?
Sync Type: Not Provided

Drew_AG

Hi @Jim here,

Thanks for reaching out to us for help! I've moved this thread to our Windows forum since your sync options will depend mostly on what's allowed on your Windows PC at work.

The best & easiest way to sync your data is to sign up for a 1Password.com account. That uses our own secure server to sync data between your devices, instead of another service such as Dropbox. We created a new version of 1Password for Windows (version 6) to support 1Password.com accounts. You can see some of the benefits of a 1Password.com account here: https://1password.com/sign-up/

If you can't (or don't want to) sign up for an account, you could use the Folder sync option in 1Password for Mac to point to a sync file in a folder on your Mac, then use another cloud sync service to copy that between your Mac and Windows PC (it would be similar to using Dropbox). You would continue to use 1Password 4 for Windows, and open your vault from the folder that syncs with your Mac.

Again, this really depends on what you're allowed to use on your work PC. I hope this helps, but please let us know if you have more questions about that! :)

Jim_here

Thank you Drew. I'm trying to absorb all this and study the options. So far the only cloud service I've found that isn't blocked is Microsoft's OneDrive, so I'll try to get the set up on the Mac tonight and see what happens.

I'm guessing the 1Password.com account does not include a subscription to app updates, but thought I would ask?

MikeT

Hi @Jim_here,

OneDrive should work but if you're using Windows 7 or 8.1, you must make the 1Password folder available offline by right-clicking on it to select Make Offline Available.

I'm guessing the 1Password.com account does not include a subscription to app updates, but thought I would ask?

It does, it includes all 1Password apps and future upgrades in the fees and there are no licensing included. You just sign in and it's ready to go, no other configuration required.

Jim_here

Thank you, I will definitely look more into getting an account.

In the meantime, I seem to have gotten it working with OneDrive. Now on OneDrive I have 1Password.opvault, and still on Dropbox I have 1Password.agilekeychain. I don't find Dropbox in the 1P preferences anywhere. Is the latter file now obsolete, and can now be deleted?

What has me worried is that 1P.opvault on OneDrive is only 2 MB, but 1p.agilekeychain on Dropbox is 9 MB. Why would that be?

MikeT

Hi @Jim_here,

. I don't find Dropbox in the 1P preferences anywhere. Is the latter file now obsolete, and can now be deleted?

I wouldn't recommend deleting but archiving it to a backup drive instead. However, hold on to it for the moment because depending on the size of your vault, OPVault might be slower to use on your PC and you might want to switch back to AgileKeychain for both instead.

What has me worried is that 1P.opvault on OneDrive is only 2 MB, but 1p.agilekeychain on Dropbox is 9 MB. Why would that be?

It shouldn't be that big of a difference. I would start by confirming that it is 2MB on your Mac, just to rule out OneDrive.

Check the item counts, make sure they match and all attachments you've added are there.

Jim_here

Thank you MikeT.

The opvault is 2 MB on my Mac, while the agilekeychain is 9 MB. I don't know how to compare the number of items and attachments. I can see the item number in the current opvault, but if I start to go back to the agilekeychain, it says the data will be merged, which scares me. I've made some changes since switching, and wouldn't like to see that all fouled up.

That said, the opvault shows 383 items (plus or including ? 130 items in Trash). I don't know how to see the number of attachments, other than looking at the package contents, where I see 17 attachments. When I show package contents in the agilekeychain, I can't find attachments.

MikeT

Hi @Jim_here,

Don't do anything with switching or merging. The item counts are in the 1Password's window itself, it's on the sidebar, it should match the same numbers of items and trashed item in both programs.

Can you send us your diagnostics reports from both the PC and Mac, we'll use that to compare the vault structure and see if everything looks good. Please use this guide to generate the reports and email it to us at support+windows@agilebits.com. Also, in the email, include the link to this thread along with your forum username, so that we can connect the email to this thread.

Let us know here when you've sent it, so we can confirm we got the email.

Jim_here

Sorry @MikeT, I don't fully understand. If I send you the PC and Mac diagnostic reports as they are now, they would both be pointing to the same 2 MB data set, the opvault. Neither is pointing toward the agilekeychain, which is 9 MB. Is that the pair of diagnostic reports you want? I'm not sure how you (or I) could see if something is missing from the agilekeychain.

MikeT

Hi @Jim_here,

1Password for Mac has its own internal database, it updates the external OPVault sync file for you. In the other words, it is the original source of the data. In addition, it will tell me how many items are in there and the general size, then it will show the same for the external OPVault file and I can compare it to the Windows version.

In addition, both diagnostics reports will show me the list of backups you have, including the ones for AgileKeychain, it will tell me the general size and number of items.

It contains a lot of history that can help us narrow this down.

Jim_here

I see, there is an internal database, it doesn't primarily use the OPVault on the Mac. I emailed both diagnostic reports to support+windows@agilebits.com.

MikeT

Thanks for letting me know here, I didn't find any email with your forum email address but searched for the forum link and found it. We'll reply to your email as soon as possible.

ref: FFK-48675-151

MikeT

Just an update, we've narrowed down the cause of the size difference. The older agilekeychain folder stored the old thumbnails that we haven't used in many years as we've switched to Rich Icons instead, which isn't stored in your data files anymore.

snag1492

This is my exact issue as well (Mac at home, Windows at work). However my employer blocks ALL cloud based file sharing applications. I am not ready to move to a 1Password.com account. If I use folder sync as described above, I presume I would sync to a file on a USB storage device to keep my vault up to date between my Mac and Windows machines. However if I do that, how will my iOS devices sync with my Mac? Once I move to folder sync on the Mac, won't that disable the Dropbox sync I set up on my iOS devices?

MikeT

Hi @snag1492,

Yes, it'll disable the Dropbox sync between your Mac and iOS devices, you'd have to switch to using WLAN sync between your Macs and iOS devices, which can run concurrently with the folder sync to your USB drive.

By the way, 1Password.com isn't often treated as a cloud-based file sharing service at work. We've seen many folks able to use 1Password.com while Dropbox and other services were blocked. In addition, you can still access your 1Password data on the 1Password.com web site, without needing any local app installed (no extension support).

snag1492

@MikeT thanks for this.

I am struggling a bit with the concept of folder sync using a USB. I understand how to set up folder sync on the MAC. I was planning on setting the destination fie to a USB that I would then use to sync with my existing 1PW vault on my Windows machine. But I do not see a sync button on the 1PW 4 for Windows and am at a loss on how I would sync the file I created on the MAC.

I have created new passwords on both my MAC and Windows machine since Dropbox was blocked by my employer and am trying to make sure I don't lose any of that new data and can keep my vault up to date.

Thanks.

MikeT

Hi @snag1492,

1Password 4 for Windows does not have Folder Sync. Instead, you direct 1Password to open the folder you have on the USB drive via the File Menu > Open 1Password Vault and 1Password will write directly to the folder.

1Password 6 for Windows and macOS have Folder Sync because it has an internal database to hold all of your vaults and 1Password accounts, so it is not directly accessible. By implementing Folder Sync, it exports to a folder you can directly access and sync elsewhere.