Unable to restore 1Password to new MacBook from backup

mcs1728

My old MacBook crashed so I have bought a new one. I have reinstalled 1Password from the Apple website where I bought it. However, I am not able to sign on or recover data from my backups. The backup file I have is called data.1pif but apparently they have to be .1p4_zip I cannot sign on to the website because it says I need a master key, but you don't get a master key when you buy from the Apple website. I am really stuck here so any advice would be appreciated.

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

Lars

Welcome to the forum, @mcs1728! Sorry for the trouble you're experiencing currently. 1pif is not a backup file, it's an export file, and it's unencrypted. These are not created by 1Password in normal use; you would have had to create that yourself at some point. Is that what you did, perhaps when you knew you were going to be switching computers? If not, can you tell me where you got that 1pif file from?

Also, what version of 1Password for Mac were you previously using, on the old MacBook? Do you remember? It would be helpful if you could provide the versions of both macOS and 1Password you were/are using on both Macs, as well as your sync method (if any). Thanks.

mcs1728

Hi Lars,

Thank you for your reply.

I've been a bit caught out by my old MacBook crashing - it is unusable at the moment! - so I don't know for certain what version of 1Password I was running. I bought it from the online Apple store on 28/10/2013 and was therefore able to reinstall it onto my new MacBook, and looking at it now it says version 6.8.9 (689000), so I am guessing this is the version I was running on my old MacBook? My current MacBook is running High Sierra version 10.13.4. I cannot remember what the old one was running - I will try to find out, but all I know for sure is that I bought it in August, 2011.

I used to do exports creating the 1pif data files regularly - I thought that these were backups! I have the latest one I took on my storage device. I wasn't syncing 1Password with any other device.

Best wishes, Matthew.

mcs1728

Lars and all: a lady from Agile Bits Support has solved my problem. Her email was as follows:

Hello Matthew!

Thanks for reaching out to us and my apologies for the slow response! As you might imagine, the 1Password 7 releases for Mac and Windows have created quite the flurry of activity around here. We're a bit swamped, but working hard to catch up. I hope you can forgive us! 💙

The file you have, data.1pif, is an export, not a backup. Good news is, you can import it into your new app, but before we do that, do you have another device where you're able to access your 1Password data? I ask because syncing would be a better solution. Since this is an export, rather than a backup, it's more likely to contain outdated data. Exports are created manually, while backups are automatically created any time you make a change to your vault. If you have another devices available, give this link a click or tap on that device:

Removed link to prevent confusion.

ref: PUS-33634-747

This will gather some very basic diagnostics from that device, including your sync method, so that you can send it to me and I can take a look and help you sync up with that fully current data instead. 👍

If you don't have another device with your data available and need to import that 1PIF file, here's what you'll want to do:

Open 1Password and choose More options > Create a Standalone Vault on the Welcome screen.
Now that you've got an empty vault, choose File > Import.
Click Other on the import screen.
Click “Import a 1PIF File” and follow the onscreen instructions to import your data.
Again, since this is an export, and not a backup, you may find that this data is a bit outdated, depending on when you saved it but it's certainly better than nothing. Go ahead and give it a try if you don't have another device on hand and let me know if I can do anything to help along the way. And, of course, if you do have another device available, I'll be on the lookout for it and get back to you with syncing instructions as soon as I'm able to take a peek. 🙂

Lars

@mcs1728 - excellent news! I'm glad one of my colleagues was able to assist. Can I ask a favor for next time, please? If you have questions or an issue you need help with, choose one of our support methods and ask it there, rather than sending out the same question/issue to multiple points of contact. I know the latter seems like it might be faster, but when we have to stop and coordinate multiple responses to the same question amongst multiple team members across multiple points of contact, it increases confusion and slows the support times for everyone, including you.

ref: PUS-33634-747