Vaults - used to switch using "Preferences->General->Data File"-- How now?

Andrew431

I have a Family license, not subscription, just pay once a year, just two of us, but we don't use the new fancy stuff.
We are on 1Password6 on multiple devices, Macintosh, iPhone and iPad, with the "vaults" stored on Dropbox.
There is only one Dropbox account. The two "vaults" are stored in a folder on Dropbox.
It used to be if I wanted/needed to switch to the "other" vault, I went to Preferences->General->Data File and selected the other folder that the other vault was stored in.
Somewhere along the way that mechanism disappeared. Now each of us has a vault and 1Password6 does not appear to have a mechanism to get at the other vault anymore.
I am not wanting to see everything in both vaults simultaneously, I just want to switch to the "other" vault for a while, then switch back.

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1Password Version: 6.7.1
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: OS X 10.12.5
Sync Type: Dropbox
Referrer: forum-search:connecting to other vaults

Drew_AG

Hi @Andrew431,

Thanks for writing in to ask us about that! What you've described is the way 1Password 3 worked. We made major changes starting with 1Password 4, so newer versions work very differently.

Back in 1Password 3, the .agilekeychain file was the main data file that 1Password used - that was the equivalent of one vault, and 1Password 3 could only use one vault at a time. 1Password 4/5/6 support multiple vaults, and the main data file is now an SQLite database file which contains all the vaults you've added to 1Password on that device. When you unlock 1Password with the master password for the Primary vault, it automatically unlocks all other vaults that you've added. Also, in 1Password 4/5/6, a .agilekeychain file is only used for syncing purposes, and only when using the Dropbox or Folder sync options (the data you see when you open the 1Password app is always coming from the SQLite database).

If you want, you can add the other vault to 1Password by double-clicking the .agilekeychain file in your local Dropbox folder. However, you'll be able to see both vaults when you unlock the app with the master password for your Primary vault, and it sounds like that's not what you're trying to do. If that other vault belongs to a family member, and it should only ever be unlocked by that family member (using the master password they chose for that vault), they would need to set up the 1Password app with that vault on another device, or from a different Mac user account on the same Mac.

Does that help to clear things up a bit?

Andrew431

Yes and no.
OK, here is what I am attempting to do.
Under normal circumstances these vaults are separate and no sharing is done at all.
However, in the event of disability, disease, theft or death or just one person using the other's computer, the "other" vault needs to be accessed on a computer it is not normally accessed from.
Both computers have direct access and sync to the same Dropbox repository.
The 1Password vault for each person is in a separate folder on Dropbox.
From what I see in the 1Password6 preferences, each computer is accessing the folder that it was accessing in 1Password3.

So given the idea that we do have completely separate vaults, with separate passwords, how does one change the primary vault that 1Password6 is accessing?

Drew_AG

Hi @Andrew431,

To change the Primary vault, you would need to reset the 1Password app and set it up again by choosing the other sync file/vault in Dropbox. Resetting the app is fairly easy (just go to Help > Troubleshooting > Reset All 1Password Data and follow the on-screen instructions), but it wouldn't be very convenient to have to do that every time one of you wants to access data from the other's computer.

A better option might be to set up a Mac user account for the other person on your Mac. When logged into their user account, they'll have access to the 1Password app but will be able to set it up with their own data/Primary vault. If they need to borrow your Mac and access their own 1Password data, they just need to switch to their Mac user account.

Alternately, you might want to consider a 1Password.com account, because that includes access to your data from the 1Password.com website. So if a family member needed to access their data while using your Mac, they could sign into their account on 1Password.com from a web browser (without needing to use the app).

I hope that helps, but please let us know if you have more questions about any of that. :)