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Secondary Email Address as Backup?

Question - Is it possible to have a secondary email as a backup?

Details - My current 1Password subscription is associated with the email address I used to sign up. I'm not 100% familiar with the recovery process as it pertains to email (I don't think there IS a full recovery option, far as I can tell, for security reasons), but I DO know that I'll get emails from time to time regarding sign ins from new devices, and stuff of that nature. I haven't ever gotten locked out of my email, but with something as important as a password manager, I don't want to take a chance, especially if I have access to everything BUT the email address. Is there an ability, or maybe something in the works, to add a secondary or backup email to our accounts?

Thanks!

Comments

  • Hey @BlockchainAppliance:

    You've touched on a few key points here, so I'd like to dig into each of them a bit:

    • Account recovery would depend on the specific account type you're using. With an individual account, there is no recovery that can be done whatsoever. If you lose access to your account password and Secret Key, we're unable to reset it or help you regain access to your account. If you're a part of a family, team or business account however, a family organizer (for a family account), or a team owner/admin would be able to recover your 1Password account.
    • Once you've verified your email address, logging into your 1Password account doesn't require access to that email. For example, if your email provider were to suddenly go defunct without warning, you would be able to use the email address on your account, your account password, and your Secret Key to sign into your 1Password account and change your registered email address to a new working email, without needing to be able to receive email on that now defunct address.
    • As it currently stands, there's no way to add a backup email address, but in the meantime, would adding a forwarding rule in your email account to a second email account work? This would ensure that in the unlikely event you were locked out of your 1Password account and your email account and another user was attempting to recover your 1Password account using the steps I linked to above, you'd still be able to receive the recovery email that would move things along.

    Let me know if that clears it up, or if you've still got questions or concerns!

    Jack

  • Hi Jack!

    You've definitely answered my questions, which stemmed from my switching from an Individual account to a Family account. I'll address each of your bullets -

    With an individual account, there is no recovery that can be done whatsoever. If you lose access to your account password and Secret Key, we're unable to reset it or help you regain access to your account.

    Good. This is what I expected and hoped for.

    Once you've verified your email address, logging into your 1Password account doesn't require access to that email.

    Excellent. I wasn't sure exactly how strongly tied the email address was to the account, other than for general notifications and initial signup. My worry was less that the email provider would go defunct, and more that the account would be suddenly locked. Certain large email providers do their best to cut humans out of the decision-making process, and when things go wrong, getting a human to intercede on your behalf is essentially impossible. If the email address was strongly tied, my fear was that despite knowing all the necessary information to access my vaults (password and secret key), I'd still be hosed.

    would adding a forwarding rule in your email account to a second email account work?

    I just took care of that, and am in the process of dealing with the other issues in the previous quote/bullet. That said, since I now know access to the email account isn't technically necessary to access the vaults (assuming I have the necessary information), I'm less worried about it.

    Thanks for clearing this up! I figured there was something I hadn't fully understood or taken into consideration.

  • Hey @BlockchainAppliance:

    Glad to hear that answered everything for you! If you're switching to a family account, and would like the ability for another individual in your family to be able to recover your 1Password account in the event you lost access to your account password and Secret Key, making them a family organizer ahead of time would be your best bet.

    Excellent. I wasn't sure exactly how strongly tied the email address was to the account, other than for general notifications and initial signup.

    Indeed, the only times access to the email inbox are absolutely necessary are when verifying the new email, or confirming the account recovery process. Be sure to get in touch if you need anything in the future!

    Jack

This discussion has been closed.