How do I migrate a Windows vault to MacOS?

Just_Me
Just_Me
Community Member

Hey!

I'm running 1Password4 on a Windows 7 PC. Now I've bought an iMac and I want to use my vault with 1Password5 for Mac. I've tried to backup my vault using iPassword4 but it seems 1Password5 Mac is not able to restore a backup done with the Windows version. How can I migrate my vault from Windows to Mac? Any ideas?

Thank in advance.

Comments

  • Drew_AG
    Drew_AG
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @Just_Me,

    If you'd like to keep your 1Password data synced between Windows and Mac, you can set up Dropbox sync in 1Password for Windows, and then use that to sync your data to 1Password on your Mac. If you'd like any help to set that up, please let us know.

    On the other hand, if you'd prefer to just use the backup file from Windows, you can do that - it just takes a few extra steps because the Mac and Windows versions of 1Password use different backup formats. But don't worry, it's actually pretty easy! Your backup file from 1Password for Windows should have a name that ends with .agilekeychain_zip. To use that file to restore your data in 1Password 5 on the new Mac, follow these steps:

    • Rename the backup file to: 1Password.agilekeychain.zip
    • Double-click that file to unzip it, and it will now be named 1Password.agilekeychain
    • Open 1Password 5 and if you haven't gone through the setup yet, choose I've used 1Password before and sync with that keychain file
    • If you already set up 1Password as a new user, go to the menu for 1Password > Preferences
    • Select Sync, then choose Folder from the “Sync vault with” pop-up menu
    • Choose the 1Password.agilekeychain file

    This should restore the data from your backup file. Hopefully you're all set now, but please let us know if you have any questions about that. Thanks!

  • streamsurfer
    streamsurfer
    Community Member

    I tried this is instructions on OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 from a vault coming from Windows 7 with no success. The backup option start will not recognize the file, nor will 1Password open the uncompressed folder. Same issue when following the "Sync" instructions.

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @streamsurfer,

    The backup option won't ever work in this situation due to the very different backup formats being used. In 1Password for Windows your vault is your .agilekeychain and 1Password for Windows writes directly to it. With 1Password for Mac we use an encrypted .sqlite database file for storing your vault on your Mac and we only use the .agilekeychain for syncing. In 1Password for Windows the backup is a zipped copy of your .agilekeychain and in 1Password for Mac it's a zipped copy of the database files. So no matter what you try, the Restore from backup won't work.

    The uncompressed folder that you refer to, can you tell us what it was called and what was inside please. When I follow Drew's steps what I get isn't a folder in the normal sense when viewed on a Mac but what we refer to a data bundle. It is a folder but a special one where the Mac treats it more like a file. So the fact that you say uncompressed folder makes me wonder.

    I believe once we sort this out and we can point 1Password for Mac at the .agilekeychain then we should be able to get you up and running :smile:

  • Chapy
    Chapy
    Community Member

    I have the same problem. I had 1Password installed on my iMac and had to completely delete the user, which wiped out 1Password. After creating a new user on the iMac, I have reinstalled 1Password 5 and got the license file to be recognized ok. I have tried to created a Backup file from my PC to be able to import into the iMac 1Password 5. After following all the instructions above, it will not sync or restore the PC file.

    I do not have and cannot create a New Vault - open grayed out.
    When I try to Sync, everything is grayed out - cannot do anything.
    I only want to sync using Wi-Fi -- but it is not available.

    I don't want to re-enter 273 new sites with passwords.
    I also have SplashID, but 1Password 5 has the File> Import Grayed out, so I cannot import from another program.

    This seems a little silly that you cannot exchange or import to 1Password 5?

    So, what is a solution here?
    Chap

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @Chapy,

    When you launch 1Password for Mac is this the screen you're greeted with?

    If it is then you should be able to follow the steps detailed above.

    1. When you extract the contents of the Windows backup file what do you see?
    2. If that screenshot isn't what you see, can you show us what you are.

    Hopefully once we better understand we can guide. I'm working on the assumption that for both you and @streamsurfer there is something we're missing about the particular state 1Password is in at the moment or something we're not managing to describe quite right.

    The crux of it is, your Windows backup is a zip file with just the wrong file extension. When renamed you can unzip it to obtain a copy of your .agilekeychain and when you use the I've used 1Password before option of the new user screen, you select the This Mac option and point 1Password to the unzipped .agilkeychain.

    We look forward to hearing back from you and better understanding your situation.

  • Chapy
    Chapy
    Community Member

    Ok, your tip helped.
    I was not at that screen above when I came into 1Password. The screen was like a Browser window with all of the getting starting index down the left side of the screen. I did not see the Continue at the bottom right of the screen, I just went to the 1Password menus, so I never got to the screen you posted.
    Once I hit the Continue at the bottom of the screen, then I got to the screen you have above and was able to restore.

    Thanks for your help.
    Chap

  • streamsurfer
    streamsurfer
    Community Member

    Thanks for the response, since none of the "import from backup" worked, I proceeded to create a new vault in hope that the "sync from folder" would work. How do I reset 1Password to factory settings. Also, I tried renaming the .agilebits_zip file to 1Password.agilebits which didn't work. What I understand now is that I need to uncompressed and then assign the extension .agilebits to the folder in order for this to work. This lead me to another question, how can I sync the Mac Vault on an on-going basis from the windows backups? Cloud options would not work for the environment.

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @streamsurfer,

    There is some confusion we need to address.

    If you want to keep 1Password for Windows and 1Password for Mac in sync, you don't want to be using a backup file. Your backup files are a snapshot of a previous vault and are distinctly separate from the actual vault. So you can't keep any copy of 1Password in sync using backups, not in any true sense of the word sync. You can use a backup to kickstart a copy of 1Password but if you're simply trying to make sure the Mac and Windows machine have the same vault then we're looking at this all wrong.

    On your Windows machine you will have a 1Password.agilekeychain - the folder that represents your vault and is what is inside the backup file. That's your real vault there. If cloud options aren't allowed this limits you to what we call Folder Sync on the Mac. This is the more complicated route, especially if you're also using a Windows machine given the Windows machine directly writes to the .agilekeychain.

    May I ask:

    1. Are these machines on the same network or are they in very different locations?
    2. Would you be happy using a pen drive?

    As an aside, what Drew wanted you to do with the windows backup was to take the backup file that ends in .agilekeychain_zip with a full name that probably looks a little like 1Password 2015-04-17 133128 (208 items).agilekeychain_zip and he wanted you to change that to 1Password.agilekeychain.zip. It needs to end in .zip so OS X will attempt to unzip the file when you double click on it. When you do that it will extract the contents of the zip file which happens to be the 1Password.agilekeychain. It sounds very much like you've skipped the extracting part of the steps. As I said at the start though, if your goal is syncing between the Windows machine and the Mac then the backup isn't syncing so we're approaching this from the wrong angle.

    If you can answer those two questions it will give us a better idea of how to proceed.

This discussion has been closed.