MacOS – Move 1Password vault from old Mac to new Mac

macmacosmigrationpassword

I did a clean install with a new hard drive in my MacBook, with old drive externally connected.

How do I move my 1Password vault from the old drive to the new drive?

  • Is there a single file I can copy?
  • If no single file approach, will File > Backup work?
    I have no idea how to do the restore. When I launch 1Password, it keeps asking for a "Secret Password" as well as a "Master Password". I have a "Master Password", but not a "Secret Password". Their documentation seems to suggest that the "Secret Password" is related to their newer online ongoing accounts. I have no interest in getting an online ongoing account, I only want the local storage option.
  • Is local "syncing" an option?
    Their documentation web site suggests "synching" a vault to a thumb drive. The doc talks about choosing the thumb drive in a "file browser", but their dialog box for "syncing" shows only a strange bread-crumb style path through several files. There is no way to redirect that bread-crumb path to the thumb drive. So I am stumped by that approach.

At this point I am giving up on 1Password, and just copy-pasting the passwords manually out to a text file. Surely there is a better way.

Best Answer

Yes, there's a much simpler way. In fact, you have a number of options, but based on your question I recommend the following:

On your new Mac

Do as follows:

  1. Install 1Password on your new Mac
  2. When it launches the first time you'll see a screen similar to the one below:

screen shot of "Used 1Password before?" dialog box

  1. Select the More Options... option to reveal the Restore from Backup option.

screen shot of "Used 1Password before?" dialog box, after clicking "More Options…"

  1. Click on the Choose Backup... button
  2. Navigate to where 1Password has saved its automated backups on your old Mac (if your Macs are not networked, then copy the backup onto a Flash drive first and use this for the new Mac)
  3. Click the Restore button

NOTE: As mentioned above there are a number of ways you can do this. You may want to read the How to move your 1Password data to a new computer or device for other options.

Related Question