request for auto-save of edits

m_w

It happened a few times recently that I setup a new login filled in username and generated a password but then failed to save it and quit 1Password.

I noticed it only seems to happen when you quit 1Password with ctrl-Q and even when you leave the edited item for many minutes before you quit.

If 1Password forces an auto-save when you quite it from the File menu, why isn't it doing the same when you use ctrl-Q?

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1Password Version: 1Password Version 6.7 (670008) Mac App Store
Extension Version: 4.6.5
OS Version: 10.12.5 (16F73)
Sync Type: Family

Drew_AG

Hi @m_w,

Thanks for contacting us about this!

It sounds like you're creating new Login items directly in the main 1Password app on your Mac. Are these Login items for website accounts? If so, it's actually better to save those by using the 1Password extension in your browser: Use the 1Password extension to save and fill passwords on your Mac or Windows PC

Aside from that, I'd like to know a bit more about the exact steps you're taking to reproduce the problem, because I haven't been able to reproduce it. When I open the 1Password app, create a new Login item in a 1Password.com account vault, type a new name for it and then quit the app, it's automatically saved and appears the next time I open it. It doesn't seem to matter if I quit by going to 1Password > Quit 1Password or by using ⌘Q - either way, the new item is there when I open the app again. If this is something you're able to reliably reproduce, it will help if you can let us know more details about the exact steps you take, so we can try that ourselves. Thanks in advance! :)

m_w

Yes, I am creating a new login item directly in the app; I often do that because most websites have a registration page which is different to the login page and therefore telling the extension to save the registration page is not much use.

As for the steps - this is what I do:

1. click the plus sign to create a new login item
2. enter a title - that field is automatically selected
3. enter a username
4. generate a password by clicking on the safe dial
5. do something else - like writing this post
6. waiting a few min
7. hit ctrl-Q on 1Password
8. reopen 1Password
9. check the new login item
10. it has the title, username and the password
11. click edit on that item
12. change the password
13. wait
14. hit crtl-Q
15. reopen 1Password
16. check the new login item
17. it has the title, username and the password is still the unchanged one
18. click edit on that item
19. change the password again
20. wait
21. click the red close button on the window
22. reopen 1Password
23. check the new login item
24. it has the title, username and the password is still the unchanged one
25. reopen 1Password
26. check the new login item
27. it has the title, username and the password is still the unchanged one
28. click edit on that item
29. change the password
30. wait
31. select Quit from the main menu
32. reopen 1Password
33. check the new login item
34. it has the title, username and the password is still the unchanged one

So right now, I can't even get it to auto-save when selecting Quit. It doesn't matter how I quit the app, it never keeps the changed password.

Drew_AG

Thanks @m_w! Ah ok, that makes more sense and definitely explains what's happening, and the difference is whether you create a new item or edit an existing one. Originally, you said this happens when you create a new item and fill in some fields, then quit before saving that item. But in that case, the new item should be saved, and in the steps from your latest message, it sounds like that happens as expected.

On the other hand, if you edit an existing item but quit before you save the changes, those changes will be lost. I'm sorry for the inconvenience! Our developers have been looking into options for a better way to handle this going forward, so hopefully we'll have something in the future that will help prevent losing your unsaved changes to existing items.

If you have more questions or need help with 1Password, please let us know. Cheers! :)

m_w

Yeah - I realised when I was playing through the scenarios that it was the edit that wasn't saved. This is necessary quite often for new logins as many sites let you register with a maximum safety password, i.e. full length, numbers and symbols, and then you discover you can't actually log back in because there is some limitation e.g. in the length of the password or they can't handle symbols. So I made it part of my registration routine to immediately log in to see if a new password really works.

Drew_AG

Hi @m_w,

Thanks for sharing how this affects you! We definitely want to add an auto-save function so you won't lose those unsaved changes in your items, and it's something our developers are working on. I don't have a timeframe for when that will be available, so in the meantime, please try to make sure you save your changes before quitting or locking 1Password.

As far as a registration form vs sign-in form on a particular website, 1Password can often correctly fill the sign-in form even if the Login item was saved from the registration form. But because that won't work for all websites, here's what I like to do when I create a new account on a website: I fill the details on the registration page (and use the Password Generator option in 1Password mini to create and fill a password), submit the registration form, and choose to save a new Login item when prompted by 1Password. Next, I'll log out of that website, find the normal sign-in page/form, copy and paste my username and password from the Login item I saved, and save a new Login item by following the steps here: How to save a Login manually in your browser

Once I save the new Login item from the sign-in form (and verify that it works), I delete the original one I saved from the registration form.

You wouldn't necessarily need to follow the exact same steps as I do, but I thought that might be a helpful suggestion. We're here for you if you need anything else! :)

m_w

Thanks for sharing your method of handling registration and login pages. I'll try it out and see how I get on with it ...

Drew_AG

Sounds good! You know where to find us if you have more questions about that. ;)

lcury

I was using 1Password app in my Mac today, as I've recently started using it, and while managing my vault, I've had the exact same idea, after losing more than a couple times information that I've added when editing items. The extensions helps a lot, but I've recently started using 1Password, so when I started building my Vault, I was going back and forth from other password vaults and notes and if you don't pay close attention, you ended up navigating to a different item without saving the changes. So, ideally, the GUI should give an alert when you're navigating elsewhere inside your vault saying there are unsaved edited information. I think this would be the ideal and most important enhancement I suggest, but a preference to allow the auto-save would be convenient :)
Thanks,
Lucas

Drew_AG

Thank you for your feedback about that, @lcury! This is definitely something we'd like to improve in the future, as we certainly don't want customers to lose unsaved changes.

For now, in case it helps: While editing an item in the main 1Password app, you can use 1Password mini (the 1Password icon in your Mac's menu bar) to view other items. That way, you don't need to navigate away from the one you're editing in the main app. When viewing an item in 1Password mini, you can click the anchor button (or use the ⌘O keyboard shortcut) to keep it open in a separate window that floats on top of all your other windows.

Please let us know if you need anything else. :)