Can't export as .1pif in Windows app

Ocoee

I need to export my data to a format LastPass can import. The only export options in the Windows 1Password application are .csv and .txt, and LastPass' import can't import either of these as far as I can manage. LastPass appears to have an import specific for .1pif files, but to get 1Password to export a .1pif I seem to need to be on a Mac.

I read a quote from one of your developers on another forum, and I thought it was great:

"Being able to get your data out of 1Password and not being locked in has been a cornerstone of our product since the very beginning. I've always hated vendor lock in and didn't want to be a part of that. I'm a big believer in "if you love someone, set them free" and it's worked very well for us over the last decade.

"Many products have an export but purposely cripple them to make them useless for importing into other apps. This is why we use the .1pif (1Password Import Format) file format as we give you all the data that's stored in 1Password, all properly formed so tools can extract what they need. We created this after writing importers for other products and finding that their output was nearly useless as there was no rhyme or reason to the format."

Does this mean you have a solution for me?

Thanks!

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1Password Version: 7.1.567
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Win 10 1709
Sync Type: Not Provided

MikeT

Hi @Ocoee,

Thanks for writing in.

Are you using 1Password account or a standalone vault in 1Password 7? You'd need to use 1Password 4 to export to 1PIF, which you can find at the bottom left of our downloads page here: https://1password.com/downloads/

We haven't implemented 1PIF export for 1Password 6/7 as it is a new/young codebase, which is why it doesn't support our export format but only CSV/Text.

To export, open the same standalone vault in 1Password 4 and go to the File Menu > Export to use 1PIF format. If you're using 1Password account, create a new standalone vault in 1Password 7 and move your 1Password account data to the standalone vault and then open that in 1Password 4.

nathanh0

Hi there - I wanted to try a different password manager. I am in 1Password 7 and exported txt/csv but only a few records went in out of many. It looks like I have to specify a password column to import from and there are 20+ password fields in the 1Password 7 export?

Any idea why 1password did this?

bundtkate

Hey, @nathanh0! Without knowing more detail about how you exported (did you export everything, or just a certain subset of items?) and what types of items were exported (for example, did these items have any custom fields?) and what application you're using to view that export, it's tough to say. CSV is nice because it's fairly universal – most password managers can both import and export CSV. It also kinda stinks because each password manager exports and imports differently formatted CSVs and the format you see can change based upon the program you're viewing it in and what settings you've chosen for decoding the CSV. To give an example, I primarily use OpenOffice on my PC and I have to make a lot of tweaks to CSVs I've exported (both from 1Password and others) to ensure they display properly. The default doesn't seem to work for anything. If I open that CSV in Google Sheets (something you definitely shouldn't do with live data given its synced via your Google account in plain text), I see yet a different format with the defaults.

My best advice is to make sure you're telling the program you're opening your CSV with to use commas as separators and to check with the password manager you're trying out as to any specific formatting they expect. We have a support article that details how to format a CSV for best results when importing into 1Password, and I'd hope other password managers would do the same. As for the extra password fields specifically, that's likely your web form details throwing things off. These help the extension fill by showing what the field labels/types are for the password field and each site does this differently which can lead to various password fields like password, Password, field_password, and likely many more. This is something we should be handling better and we've already done some work towards that end. The standard password field should have a single column that has a value for each and every Login item you export. Something I've done when testing in the past that can help is to export my Login items without any other item types. This way, I can see which column has data for every single item and remove the rest. In most cases, this has allowed me to import data well without too much reformatting.

Exports are tough. Different password mangers use different data and thus some of what we export may be useless so far as other password managers are concerned and having that data in your export can make it tough to get a good import. On the other hand, that data is yours – we don't want to exclude any of the data you have saved as you have a right to export it and bring it with you. Plus, data that's useless according to one password manager may be useful according to another. There isn't a standard for export/import and thus it's tough to find something that works universally which means the onus tends to fall on each of us to ensure we can import as many export types and formats as possible and do so well. To the extent that we're able to help you get an export out of 1Password that works for the password manger you're importing into, though, we're more than happy to help.

spider623

Hey, @bundtkate all that is good apart for one small issue that everyone forgets.... comma separated CSV is stupid...
most modern passwords include.... commas... we need a way to export and also take it into account if you try to import with commas as the separator most good password managers will refuse because MOST passwords use them, can't you use JSON???

Any 3rd option will do but the use of CSV by password managers is a joke by now, most of the times if i want to try a new password manager i have to manually move 500+ credentials, even worse since, unlike JSON and XML where you can have proper categories in CSV i have to move the notes, id, credit/debit cards, license keys, ssh keys, servers, notes, etc. manually anyway.

I hope you guys will consider the JSON or even the XML export option.

MikeT

Hi @spider623,

most good password managers will refuse because MOST passwords use them, can't you use JSON???

Are you sure they're refusing it because of comma or is it because the export wasn't encoding the commas correctly? This issue is not limited to CSV, it happens in any export formats. JSON is not immune to this; if you have a password with password{"something",}, it can break the export and other tools just like using commas in CSV.

The issue is when exporting with commas, we're supposed to include "" for the password; this,thing vs. "this,thing", the quotes allow the tool to see it is one field instead of two.

can't you use JSON?

1PIF is our JSON-based format, it is just not implemented in 1Password 7 for Windows at the moment. It is planned for a future update.

most modern passwords include.... commas

That's true for any delimiter in any export. JSON uses {, }, ,, : and so on, passwords can include them as well. The way this works in CSV and other formats is to encode the password with doubling quotes or using an escape character like \ and other tools should understand how to decode them.

The issue with CSV is not the delimiter, that's true for any export format. The main issue with CSV is that it does not scale with variable data structures.

spider623

In my case is the commas, have some really bad rng... on the bright side 1Password is the best password manager for my use case so since I’m not migrating soon I don’t bother tracking which of all the entries is the issue

bundtkate

That might not be CSV itself's fault so much as our exporter, @spider623. There are a few issues with it that I could see leading to the same sorts of troubles you're citing. That said, it looks like those issues are fixed in beta so hopefully should be sorted in stable by the time you have need of an export. Or, y'know, ideally you'll never need it cuz we'd miss you. :wink: