Big mistake after 1P export test on Mac High Sierra
Bottom line: all 1P data is gone from my desktop app. It IS still visible online. I'm pretty sure I deleted the wrong file in my laptop library after a test export of some logins last night. I wanted to trash the export file (as per the 1P warning) and I clearly fished the wrong file out of my Mac library (assuming I should have been looking there at all.) I am one week into a 1P family account and I was up and running well until I realized my mistake this morning. So two questions:
- Is the best way to repopulate my desktop app to uninstall and reinstall?
- What is the proper way to export from 1P AND be able to find and deal securely with the resulting file?
Thank you in advance for your help!
1Password Version: 1Password 7
Extension Version: Chrome 4.7.2.90
OS Version: OS 10.13.6
Sync Type: none
Comments
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@scacl: If you have all of your data in a 1Password.com account, you can easily reset the app and then set it up with your account again to get all of your data there. That should get you back up and running. As for the rest:
Bottom line: all 1P data is gone from my desktop app. It IS still visible online. I'm pretty sure I deleted the wrong file in my laptop library after a test export of some logins last night. I wanted to trash the export file (as per the 1P warning) and I clearly fished the wrong file out of my Mac library (assuming I should have been looking there at all.) I am one week into a 1P family account and I was up and running well until I realized my mistake this morning.
I don't understand why you'd be deleting things in Library. 1Password does not export there unless you did that yourself. It's really best not to mess with that. I suspect you're aware of that, but I want to be clear for anyone reading this discussion.
So two questions:
Is the best way to repopulate my desktop app to uninstall and reinstall?Probably. See above.
What is the proper way to export from 1P AND be able to find and deal securely with the resulting file? Thank you in advance for your help!
macOS has not had a Secure Empty Trash option for a while now, so there's no easy way to do this — especially since the nature of solid state media is that you're not going to be able to reliably do a "secure erase" anyway, which is why that option is gone. You can export to disk, and full disk encryption means it isn't exposed to someone stealing your Mac...but I appreciate that's not a satisfying answer. I'm not sure there is one in this case. But I guess I don't understand why you're trying to export in the first place if you're using 1Password anyway. Can you tell me what you're trying to accomplish?
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@brenty Thanks so much for your speedy reply! I just tried to reset my desktop app and got an error msg "The operation could not be completed." I presume that's b/c I messed up the library. So now my question is, how do I uninstall the iP7 app completely? Just drag it to the trash and reinstall?
To answer your (very good) last question, I am new to password managers and I'm working through the psychology of giving up control before I've had a chance to build trust. I saw that 1P could import from other password managers and I wondered what an export from 1P would look like if I wanted to explore other options down the road. To be clear, I LOVE what I see so far! I don't anticipate wanting another option. I was just dealing with my paranoia and went a bridge (aka library dive) too far.
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@scacl - so, probably the best thing for you to do at this point would be to completely remove 1Password, root and branch. Assuming your data is safe and complete when viewed in a browser at 1password.com, this won't hurt anything locally to remove everything. But first -- is there ANY way to know what you removed from the Library? Which folder, what file(s)? Or do you not remember at all?
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@Lars Thanks so much for your reply! My data IS complete and safe when viewed in a browser at 1Password.com (and my two ios devices sync just fine.) I'm just not clear how to completely remove the gummed up version of 1Password from my laptop, root and branch as you say, and then do a clean reinstall. I found these help instructions:
https://support.1password.com/mac-app-store-damaged/
However, these instructions seem to assume (appropriately) that the library hasn't been tampered with. I'm worried that there will be residual (or missing) files that might interfere with a second install if I merely trash the app and reinstall (following the other instructions for a restart and signing out of the App Store, etc ). Would AppCleaner actually be appropriate here given that all my data also resides online?FWIW the file/folder(s?) in the library had a number/letter series that begins "2BU......." and ends with ".com.agilebits.onepassword7-helper".
I really appreciate everyone's responsiveness! Thank you!
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@scacl: This is actually one of a vanishingly few situations in which I would recommend using a "cleaner" app. In the vast majority of cases, this is a VERY bad idea, as they often nuke people's 1Password data along with the app and its support files. However, since, as you note, you've got all of your data in your 1Password.com account, there's no risk to the data itself, and using a "cleaner" app to intentionally nuke 1Password will be much easier than doing so manually. If you remove everything associated with 1Password from the computer, installing a fresh copy from our website will allow you to set it up again from scratch with your account. Let me know how it goes, and if you have any questions. :)
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@brenty @Lars I am back up and running with 1P7 on my mac, all thanks to the help of you good folks at 1PW. Thank you SO much! For any others out there, I'm clear that I was able to avert to disaster b/c I had signed up for an online account from the get-go. That's money well spent!
Because all my data was backed up in my account at 1Password.com, I was able to use AppCleaner which removed 24(!) files from various parts of my mac library...er, minus the one that I inadvertently deleted which caused my problem in the first place. At first, AppCleaner didn't want to do its job b/c it believed (appropriately) that 1P was a protected file, although it didn't show as such in it list of protected files. FWIW App Cleaner DID warn me (again, appropriately) that I was about to lose all my data. I thought that was really nice of it for folks who aren't sure what they're doing. Oh, wait, I'm looking at myself in the mirror.
Thanks again!
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@scacl - excellent news! I'm glad brenty and I were able to get you squared away. And you're right; the peace of mind that comes from knowing there's a "good" copy of your data just waiting for you to sign back into it, really gives you the freedom to not worry about losing or destroying things on your own device. Cheers!
ref: YYU-91253-185
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