How do I import my Apple/iCloud Keychain passwords into 1Password 4 for Mac?

geofharries
geofharries
Community Member
edited March 2014 in Mac

Today I purchased 1Password 4 for Mac, thinking I could just import my Keychain passwords into the software and go from there (I also installed the Safari web browser extension).

After reading a bunch of forum posts here, I found one that made the most sense, and downloaded, ran and successfully exported my Keychain passwords as a CSV file using this script. Worked like a charm.

Now I have a CSV file with all of my passwords in it, but when I open 1Password, the only option to import is for a .1pif file, which is a file I don't have.

What do I do now; How do I get my data into 1Password?

thanks

geof

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Comments

  • jpgoldberg
    jpgoldberg
    1Password Alumni

    There are a couple of options for importing from CSV or (a bit trickier, OS X Keychain) into 1Password 4. It will be a lot easier to work from the CSV, so thanks for getting that.

    Until we get all of the importers that we had in 1Password 3 fully functioning you in 1Password 4 (some of them are beginning to show up in the 1Password 4 Betas), you will need to go through a round-about method.

    You should fetch 1Password 3 from our website. The most recent version 3 is 3.8.21, and direct download

    Then use the importer in 1Password 3. When you select the "CSV or Delimited Text" method and pick your file, you will see the CSV Import Assistant

    1Password 3 import assistant

    Anyway, once the data is imported, you should then be able to export it as 1PIF, which 1Password 4 will happily import.

    Please note that the CSV file and the 1PIF data will contain your data unencrypted. So once you are have verified that your data is working in 1Password 4, you may which to remove the intermediate CSV and 1PIF files from any place where they might be captured.

    I'm sorry that this is so cumbersome at the moment, switching versions and all. We are working on reintroducing importers into 1Password 4, but for the moment, you need to use this somewhat round-about method.

    Cheers,

    -j

    –-
    Jeffrey Goldberg
    Chief Defender Against the Dark Arts @ AgileBits
    http://agilebits.com

  • geofharries
    geofharries
    Community Member

    That wasn't cumbersome at all. In fact, it was pretty fun!

    My passwords are now in place and working in v4. Thanks for your help.

    geof

  • jpgoldberg
    jpgoldberg
    1Password Alumni

    That's great geof.

    Thanks for letting me know. And welcome to the forums. We are typically more responsive to activity here, but the absolutely overwhelming response to the release of 1Password 4 has been, well, a bit overwhelming. So it can take us a day or two to respond.

    Cheers,

    -j

  • A good solution, but how should people who bought 1Password via the App Store handle this? I can't import more than 20 items in the 1Password 3 trial, and don't have a license key to register it. Otherwise I think this would be perfect :-( Any suggestions?

  • jpgoldberg
    jpgoldberg
    1Password Alumni

    Hi Isaac,

    Normally, you would have 30 days free trial without a limit on the number you can add to your 1Password data. But for one of any number of possible reasons (such as have tried the free trial before) your 30 days may have expired.

    Normally, I'd say you can write to support to get a temporary license for 1Password 3 or to "restart" your trial, and it will get sorted out quickly. But at the moment, there are long delays in getting back to people. So, the best I can do is say to write into support (as above) and be patient in waiting for a response.

  • Hi, I ended up just completely uninstalling and re-installing 1Password 3, which let me set up a new vault. Since I only needed it to import the CSV and export the 1PIF for 1Password 4, it worked fine. All good now!

  • bj1pass
    bj1pass
    Community Member

    I have tried the importing method described above, but when I open version 3 it launches version 4 instead. I have confirmed that I am launching the correct version, and have downloaded it twice, but opening trial version 3 always opens the Apple Store version 4. I must be missing something ...

  • geofharries
    geofharries
    Community Member

    I had the same problem - I had both version 3 and 4 installed - but I uninstalled both with AppZapper http://www.appzapper.com then installed version 3 again on its own own. Ran through the process above and when that was finished, uninstalled v3 and installed v4 from the App Store.

  • bj1pass
    bj1pass
    Community Member

    Thanks for your insight. Unfortunately, this should not be necessary, but I'll give it a go and see if I can get it to work.

  • bj1pass
    bj1pass
    Community Member

    OK This is getting near the edge of ridiculous … I used App Zapper to 'zap' 1Password version 4. It asked for my administrator password, took about 30 seconds, showed that it was 'zapped', and guess what? It's still in my application folder - right where it was just before I zapped it. Tried this twice same results. For $40 I'm thinking it shouldn't be this much work. Not sure where to go from here, as I have 220 records to import from another password application. Any further insights would be appreciated ...

  • geofharries
    geofharries
    Community Member

    Sorry you're encountering so many issue. Sounds like AgileBits isn't able to keep up with their newfound customer demand for v4. I guess it's a good problem to have, but still, sucks when important steps like importing your data don't work easily.

  • bj1pass
    bj1pass
    Community Member
    edited October 2013

    OK. Took this on myself and fixed the issue. Did what App Zapper (a normally reliable app) won't do:

    • Trashed 1Password 4 and all it's associated files
    • Downloaded 1Password 3 trial
    • Imported text file of passwords from pass password protection program (say that fast thrice)
    • Exported 1Password 3 data
    • Trashed 1Password 3
    • Downloaded 1Password 4
    • Imported 1Password 3 data file

    Ta Dah! All is well …

    Hope this helps someone - and even more that AgileBits gets its overdue importer modules developed soon. :>

  • Hi guys,

    Sounds like AgileBits isn't able to keep up with their newfound customer demand for v4.

    Understatement of the year for us. :) You're correct, it's a good problem to have but it's hurting us and our customers as we want to help everybody at the same time and we're making some progress but we're still way behind. We're also working on several updates soon to fix many of the reported issues and finally get that Known Issues page down to zero. :)

    @bj1pass, that really is weird. It might be because the files are protected by OS X as it is sandboxed from not only itself but from other processes, so it may be difficult to delete with another app. Usually, trashing the app file is enough.

    The weirder thing is, opening 1Password 3 should never open 1Password 4, they have nothing to do with each other. I have both 3.8.21 and 1Password 4 running here as we still support our 1Password 3 customers but I've never seen that issue you've reported. I also haven't seen this in our support queues. Hopefully, everything's good now.

    Thank you for writing this down for the rest of us, it is much appreciated!

  • Ivo Jansch
    Ivo Jansch
    Community Member

    Now that 4 is out, shouldn't these importers be available? I can't find the custom csv import screen, just a csv option which fails to import any csv format I feed to it. The version 3 workaround works fine, but would be nice to be able to do this in 4 without workarounds.

  • sjk
    sjk
    1Password Alumni
    edited August 2014

    Hi, @Ivo.

    We haven't finished working on 1P4 importers and custom CSV importing is still a possibility.

    For your failing CSV import, it could be a newline issue similar to what I mentioned elsewhere.

    We'd appreciate seeing a sample of the failed import (see post #4 that other topic) if you'd like to email us one. Thanks!

  • TimGuyKing
    TimGuyKing
    Community Member

    I have hundreds of login details stored in my Mac keychain and I'd like to be able to get them into 1Password. Is there any trick or shortcut, or am I going to have to type in each one manually?

  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @TimGuyKing,

    Unfortunately there is no way to directly import from your Mac keychain to 1Password. However, to save you the time of manually re-entering all of your information, I suggest simply using the two in parallel for a while. Ensure that the 1Password Mini is running, and log in to sites using your Mac keychain as you normally do. Whenever 1Password notices a Login that is not stored in its database, it will prompt you to save. It's not an immediate solution, but it will save you some effort, and also help you get used to the features and workflow of 1Password. :)

  • NathanLucy
    NathanLucy
    Community Member

    I'm interested in updates on this topic. I'm also brand new to 1Password. What's the best way for me to find out the latest on iCloud keychain imports into 1Password 4?

  • sjk
    sjk
    1Password Alumni
    edited August 2014

    Greetings, @NathanLucy.

    1Password 4 for Mac now supports importing of CSV format files, as documented here:

    How can I import data from another application?

    What @RobYoder wrote elsewhere is still true:

    Unfortunately, we can't directly access OS X keychain information. And Apple doesn't make it easy to export that information either.

    So, like @geofharries mentioned in his first post, iCloud (Apple) Keychain items can be exported to a CSV file using rwest's script:

    Convert OS X Keychain exported entries into logins for 1Password import

    And now the CSV files it creates can be imported file directly into 1Password 4 instead of importing/exporting with 1Password 3 as an intermediary. Secondary vaults can be handy when testing importing and for storing certain imported data more permanently.

    And there's some information about using 1Password 4 and iCloud Keychain together in this topic:

    Apple keychain vs 1Password interference?

    I hope that's helpful. :)

  • NathanLucy
    NathanLucy
    Community Member

    @sjk, that was sooo very helpful. Done and done.

  • sjk
    sjk
    1Password Alumni

    That's great, @NathanLucy. Thanks for letting me know. Have a wonderful week! :)

  • gvantass
    gvantass
    Community Member

    I'm considering a purchase of 1PW, but would like to know if it's possible to import my existing ID/password pairs from OS X (10.9)/Safari (7.0.2) keychain into 1PW automatically, or would I have to manually port them over?

  • sjk
    sjk
    1Password Alumni
    edited August 2014

    Hi @gvantass,

    Thanks for your interest in 1Password and asking about how to import your Apple Keychain password data into it. I've merged your topic into one with an answer to that question and instructions in post #20. The Apple (iCloud) Keychain data has to first be converted to CSV data, which can then be imported into 1Password 4. As you can see, @NathanLucy had relatively recent success doing it. :)

    Another option is to save new items to 1Password after they've been filled with login details from Safari's AutoFill (which can remain enabled as long as you'd like).

    If you have more questions about this or anything else please don't hesitate to ask!

  • gvantass
    gvantass
    Community Member

    Thanks, SJK, that makes my decision making a lot easier! I appreciate it!

  • On behalf of @sjk, you're welcome! :)

  • sguinness
    sguinness
    Community Member

    Is it possible to import passwords from iCloud Keychain?

  • Stephen_C
    Stephen_C
    Community Member
    edited August 2014

    I believe nothing has changed since this thread from last year.

    Stephen

  • sjk
    sjk
    1Password Alumni
    edited August 2014

    Hi @sguinness,

    Thanks for asking about importing iCloud Keychain data. I've merged your topic with the related one where I most recently answered essentially the same question. I hope that helps. :)

  • huffalumpy
    huffalumpy
    Community Member

    Well, then it would be nice if a keychain export was importable.

  • Hi @huffalumpy‌,

    I agree - it would be great if we were able to migrate logins from the Mac OS X Keychain to 1Password. The problem is that exporting from Keychain Access is a real pain, as Apple requires you to enter your login password for every item that is exported.

This discussion has been closed.