1Password 7 for Mac Locked Out

AjEG
AjEG
Community Member

I have been using 1Password for a LONG time. Over the years I have it setup with my family at home using Dropbox and my team at work with 1Password for Teams.

Today I decided to upgrade my family to 1Password for Families. This seemed to go just fine and I was in the process of organizing logins in our 1Password for Families account via 1Password 7 for Mac (1PW7 Mac) on my Mac and my wife's Mac. I had to step away for a bit and when I came back, I went to login to my 1PW7 Mac and my password didn't work? I tried it about ten times, typing VERY carefully, it still didn't work. I then tried the master password my family iOS and macOS devices have used for years. That didn't work. I then tried the new master password that was requested for my new personal account in 1Password for Families. That didn't work. Then, since I had setup my wife's account last, I tried the new master password that was requested for her new personal account in 1Password for Families. That didn't work.

I am now locked out of my 1PW7 Mac. I did NOT change the master password on my Mac. The ONLY thing I did was create a new 1Password for Families account for myself and then I invited my wife and got her setup as well.

What happened here? What do I need to do to get access to my 1PW7 on my Mac?

I can access my 1Password for Families account via the web browser and I can access my 1Password for Teams account via the web browser, but I cannot access 1PW7 Mac that has all of those together. When I check the 1PW7 preferences on my Mac, I see that the 'Sync' tab is no longer there but that my two 1Password accounts (one for Teams and one for Families) are there. Does the Sync tab not show up because I haven't been able to enter a password that 1PW7 accepts?

One other note. After I had gotten my wife's new 1Password for Families account setup on her Mac, I did stop the Dropbox sync in her 1PW7 Mac. I can't imagine why stopping her sync would affect my 1PW7 Mac, but I wanted to mention it.

Please help!


1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided

Comments

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @AjEG!

    Does the Sync tab not show up because I haven't been able to enter a password that 1PW7 accepts?

    No, the Sync tab is removed when you remove your Primary vault from the app. Since you now sync your data via 1Password.com automatically, and you have nothing that syncs with Dropbox anymore, the Sync tab is removed to avoid confusion.

    When I check the 1PW7 preferences on my Mac, I see that the 'Sync' tab is no longer there but that my two 1Password accounts (one for Teams and one for Families) are there.

    Is your Teams account perhaps the first account in the app? If so, you will need to enter that Master Password to unlock the app. I think this is because you removed the Primary vault, which you used to unlock the app at the beginning.

    The way 1Password unlocks is:

    • If a Primary vault exists, then it unlocks using the Master Password for that vault, regardless of what, if any, memberships are signed in
    • If a single 1Password membership is signed in, then it unlocks using the Master Password for that membership account
    • If multiple memberships are signed in, then it unlocks using the Master Password of the first added membership

    These are each exclusive scenarios. For example, if multiple memberships are signed in, you cannot unlock 1Password using the Master Password of the second account that was added.

    So my suspicion is that you removed the Primary vault, making your Teams account the main one in the app. If this is the case, you can unlock the 1Password app with the Master Password of your Teams account.

  • AjEG
    AjEG
    Community Member

    Thanks so much for your help ag_ana. That explains a LOT! Too bad that info is not on the 1Password.com or AgileBits.com websites? (at least not that I could find) I was able to launch 1Password 7, open preferences and see the accounts that were listed and which one was listed first. I had forgotten that I had logged into my 1PW app with the 'master account' I had setup for our 1Password for Teams back when I first set that up. Since I was trying all of my 'personal' 1PW master passwords, I didn't think of trying the master password for that master account. I tried that and... it WORKED! Thanks!

    Now... why did my Primary Vault get removed from the 1PW app? I did not initiate that. When I was signing up and getting setup with 1Password for Families, there were a handful of questions asked, but I don't recall any of that stating, "Do you want to remove your Primary Vault?". Are there any scripted processes and questions that would lead to that occurring? Or is the only way supposed to be by a user explicitly going through steps to remove a Primary Vault?

    Please let me know. And thanks again for your help!

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    @AjEG:

    You are welcome! I am happy to hear that my suggestion helped :)

    Are there any scripted processes and questions that would lead to that occurring? Or is the only way supposed to be by a user explicitly going through steps to remove a Primary Vault?

    1Password can guide you through the process of moving your existing data to a 1Password Membership, but the Primary vault needs to be removed manually afterwards. We do show a Remove Vault button at the end of the process though, so perhaps that's how you removed the vault.

    I don't believe there is any way to remove it without explicitly asking the app to do it (indeed one of the questions I see often here is why 1Password shows duplicates, which are caused exactly by the fact that the old Primary vault remains in the app until it is removed by the user).

  • AjEG
    AjEG
    Community Member

    Thanks for the info ag_ana. I'm wondering if I ended up clicking on the 'Remove Vault' button. In either case, thanks to your info about how 1Password manages master passwords, I have everything straightened out and taken care of. Thanks again for your help. :-)

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    @AjEG, you are very welcome! I am very happy to hear things are working as expected now.

    If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out anytime.

    Have a wonderful day :)

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