How to export or backup iOS 1PW 4 data

Say you sync your iOS device to a clean Dropbox. You could then view your vault in a read-only capacity from within the Dropbox website I believe (it isn't something I do myself). While you could then copy that vault locally to your mac something about running javascript from a file url means all browsers tend to throw a hissy fit if you try that.

Another assumption I'm making is that the iOS version makes all the exact same files as the OS X version does to allow this. I only WiFi sync though so I'm not a massive use to you on the details.

I'm confused though, if you're treating the vault on one device as good and another device as bad why not simply wipe the bad one so when syncing occurs there is only the possibility of the good data being used?

Okay, so the issue is because of fragmentation and other reasons you're now looking at partial vaults on multiple devices with bad data stopping a simply integration.

You may get a more elegant suggestion from somebody else but here's my thoughts on the matter.

1. Sync your mac to a clean Dropbox. That way you have a read only copy of your known good data from the mac.
2. Create a new throwaway user account on your mac and log into that.
3. Create a new empty vault in 1Password 4 in this account and then WiFi sync your iOS device to it. This profile will now have a copy of all your some good/some bad data.
4. Still in this account, follow the instructions for viewing 1Password Anywhere (don't forget, this is a ready only copy) and proceed to delete all the stuff you don't want to keep from the still running copy of 1Password in the throwaway OS X account. At the end, what you should be left with is a vault full of the items you want to keep and to see integrated into your proper vault.
5. Export the entire lot in the .1pif format and save it either to a USB stick or the shared folder in OS X. NB. .1pif is an unencrypted form of your vault so this is a temporary stage and it should be deleted afterwards.
6. Return to your proper account and import the .1pif file into your real vault.

At this point, having verified all has gone well and everything that you want to keep is now in a single good vault, you can proceed to delete the throwaway OS X user account completely, you can stop synching to Dropbox if you want (from step 1.) and then you can start to wipe the copy of 1Password 4 for iOS so that when you sync your mac to the iOS device it will sync only the clean vault. Also, once done don't forget to delete the .1pif file and ensure it isn't hiding in a trash file - once happy the data is in your real vault you want that file completely gone.

How does that sound? As I say, don't be shocked if somebody can come up with a more elegant solution. That's just my first idea of how I would do it if I was in your situation.

You can't access 1PasswordAnywhere when using iCloud because, at least for the moment, you can't access iCloud like a filesystem.

There could be a breakdown somewhere in the communication chain :-P

Is the goal a partial import from the data within the iOS vault, before the wiping of the iOS vault and syncing with the fresh vault on OS X?

If that is, then the steps I suggested ought to accomplish that. Step 4 was about removing all the un-required items before export so that the .1pif file contains only what you want to keep. Part of what I was trying to accomplish with my suggestion was a set of steps that didn't have you cut and pasting tens or hundreds of entries manually which to me would sound horrific. The use of Dropbox in steps 1 & 4 was so you could easily view what was already in your good OS X vault from within the throwaway account while you cleaned up the imported iOS vault. At no point would you be syncing your real OS X vault with any other vault though, the .1pif import isn't a vault - it's a text file using a particular format more suited to copying 1Password entries than comma delimited is.

If for whatever reasons you're against the importing part then steps 1-4 would still leave you a vault in the throwaway account containing only the entries you're interested in. At that point you could try creating a pdf, exporting everything in tab or comma delimited form (personally I'm suspecting that particular export is pretty knackered based on my few uses). Saying that, having reached the point of step 5, if you went back to your main OS X account you could disable Dropbox syncing and after ensuring that the keychain is deleted from Dropbox, you could pop back to the throwaway account and set up Dropbox syncing there. Then back in your real account you could view the pruned iOS vault in a read-only state and copy and paste from there into your good vault.

Does any of that match up with what you're trying to achieve?

You can share a single item in the iOS version but no, I don't believe there is a way to simply export from the iOS version - sorry. While the steps may seem complicated I'm not sure where the chancy part comes in. As far as I can see the only moment of uncertainty would be when wiping your iOS device in preparation to sync with your fresh OS X vault but you're going to hit that stage at some point anyway.

What it comes down to though is you can only do what you're comfortable with, although I don't envy you if it's 6-8 months of slow manual effort :(

I would just like to say for the record that I believe there is technically nothing wrong with what I suggested and @Megan where were you several posts earlier? :P

Hers is undoubtedly a more elegant solution than the ones I was offering up. I don't think I would have ever suggested it either as I deal with secondary vaults so rarely and don't know all the tricks. That's probably a handy one to know for the future, double clicking an agilekeychain will result in a secondary vault. Cheers Megan.

Good luck with whatever you end up trying @davidn‌ I'm going to keep quiet now :P

Turns out the greater than symbol is what the forum uses to designate something as a quote so what you probably wanted to do was reverse the usage so the instructions appeared as quotes instead.

I should clarify, I was just joking with Megan, or at least trying to ;) when I defended my posts but I suspect I didn't quite get it right. I've learnt a lot from Megan and continue to do so :) and I know you weren't trying to suggest my posts were somehow wrong.

As for your queries regarding Megan's instructions. 1Password 4 for OS X is the program associated with the .agilekeychain extension so when you double click on the file in Dropbox it's passed to 1Password. Before 1Password can do anything with it it would have to be unlocked hence why Megan is saying you need to enter the password for your iOS vault as that's the vault this .agilekeychain represents. The next bit Megan will have to reassure you about though. It seems 1Password's behaviour is to import a keychain into a new vault rather than merging into the primary but I have limited experience at this stage.

Hi @davidn,

oh, sorry about that formatting! I used double greater than's to highlight my comments and the site put it in those fancy gray boxes.

No worries! I've fixed that for you by prepending a single '>' before @Megan‌'s text. :)

Hi @davidn,

I'm so glad you were able to get things sorted out! I'm not quite sure how my steps are much different (or much more complex) than the steps you found in Joe Kissell's book though. He suggests using iTunes File Sharing to create a fresh 1Password.agilekeychain file, while I suggested creating that same keychain using Dropbox.

It is important to note as well that these steps also only apply to earlier versions of 1Password 4 for iOS, as the iTunes File Sharing feature has been changed into a backup feature more akin to the backup and restore feature that is available on Mac.

In any case, I'm glad that your data is all back where it should be! If you have any further questions or concerns, we're here to help. :)

I haven't played about much with it but what Megan is referring to is at some point in the evolution of 1Password for iOS, you can't simply copy the keychain via iTunes backwards and forwards. I'm sure somebody from AgileBits can state specifically which version first introduced this change.

From this version onwards you can create a zip file that is a backup of your iOS vault from within the iOS app. That can then be copied from your iOS device using a USB cable or WiFi - cable should be optional. This is a new(isn) feature currently being developed so how far along the rest of the procedure for restoring and desktop versions being able to read it - I don't know. Heck it may all work now, I just remember when it was first introduced and because I sync I've never paid too much attention to it. My mac uses Time Machine and 1Password for Mac is constantly doing backups in the background as well. I could wipe my phone and not be bothered - obviously a different setup though.

Hi @davidn,

@littlebobbytables‌ is right, iTunes File Sharing was removed in version 4.5 of 1Password 4 for iOS in favour of a backup/restore function. I'm glad to hear that File Sharing did what you needed it to do in 4.3.2 though!

I hope that you enjoy 1Password 5 for iOS, but of course, if you hit any snags, you know where to find us. :)

Hi @Imogen,

I'm sorry that 1Password 4 on your iPhone hasn't worked out and that you're having trouble exporting your data. Since you're running iOS 8.1, have you upgraded to and tried 1Password 5?

You can download 1Password for Mac from the AgileBits Downloads page and use it free for 30 days:

The application downloaded from our website will remain fully functional for the first 30 days after you install it. After this initial trial period, you will need to purchase a license to continue using without restrictions.

Then you can sync with Dropbox or sync over Wi-Fi to transfer your data from your iiPhone to the Mac, Or use iTunes Backups to save a backup of your data that can be restored on your Mac. Once your data is in 1Password for Mac you'll be able to export it from there.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions please let us know.