Sync 1password With Dropbox



SyncSync 1password With Dropbox

1password Desktop Force Sync

Updates are synced to your Dropbox as soon as the Internet connection is re-established. 1PasswordAnywhere is a great feature, but it should be used only from computers that you can trust. I prefer to use the 1Password App if possible. 1Password Sync with Dropbox offers an easy and secure way to back up and sync your data across multiple Macs. Make sure 1Password is up to date. Update 1Password on your all your devices. This is important. Syncing 1Password with Dropbox works very similarly to syncing KeePass. In a nutshell, you need to save your 1Password database file in your Dropbox directory.

All I wanted to do was read Hawkeye.

It was such a simple task for a Friday night, but my Marvel app barked that it needed my new password. So I fired up 1Password to get the new password and realized it was the old one. I checked another device and it had the new password, but was missing a new account I had entered earlier in the day. I went back to my iPad and it didn't have the new account either.

Holy $@#%!

After calming down, I did a quick search and started scanning the 1Password forums. I found some of the needed steps in post #63, but they didn't quite work for me. So here's how I fixed 1Password syncing.

1password Icloud Sync Windows

  1. I had 5 devices I needed to correct (3 OS X and 2 iOS) all on version 4.x of 1Password. In any event, scan your devices for what appears to be the best version of your 1Password keychain1 on an OS X device and take it offline. Dropbox management isn't on par on iOS as it is on OS X, so the following steps are easier from a Mac.
  2. Set syncing of the keychain of your good copy to a local folder so 1Password is sync'd locally and ignores the Dropbox copy. You want to enable syncing so you have an easily locate a copy of your keychain.
  3. Open Dropbox and create a new secure note in the good copy as a test to prove that syncing is working later.
  4. On all of your other devices, open up 1Password and disable syncing. Do not enable local syncing either.
  5. Turn off wifi/network access for all of your devices.
  6. Go back to the OS X device that has the good copy of your keychain and do the following:
    • Make sure wifi/network access is on.
    • Open your Dropbox folder and delete the 1Password.agilekeychain in the Dropbox root folder or any other folder you may have used, e.g. Apps1Password or something else.
    • Create a 1Password folder in the root of your Dropbox folder.
    • Open 1Password and set the syncing back to Dropbox. 1Password will recognize the new folder in Dropbox and run home to mommy and put the keychain in there.
  7. On an iOS device:
    • Make sure wifi/cellular is still turned off.
    • Delete the 1Password app by holding down on the icon until you get the 'x' to remove it.
    • Turn on wifi/cellular service to the device.
    • Open the iOS App Store app and download 1Password again.
    • Open 1Password and set it up again with Dropbox syncing.
    • Again, 1Password will recognize the 1Password folder and default to picking up the keychain there.
    • Open 1Password and the note you previously entered will be there.
    • Repeat same steps on any other iOS device(s).
  8. On your other OS X device(s):
    • DO NOT use the 1Password 3 uninstall utility.2
    • Make sure wifi/network access is still off on OS X device.
    • Make sure 1Password is closed.
    • From the first OS X device, use the following steps to reset 1Password: Agilebits 1Password Reset.
    • Enable wifi/network access.
    • Open 1Password and set it up with Dropbox syncing.
    • 1Password again will find the 1Password folder and sync with that keychain.
    • Open 1Password and the note you previously entered will be there.
    • Repeat the same steps for any other OS X device(s).
  9. At this point all of your devices will be in sync.
  10. Enter a new test note on one of the other devices to verify syncing is working.

I've been running this way for most of the morning and have not had any syncing discrepancies.


Got any questions? Feel free to hit me up on Twitter at @MyGeekDaddy.

1Password syncs with iCloud using AgileCloudSDK, an open source API from the creators of 1Password, and uses the public Dropbox API to sync with Dropbox. By following standards and using open source tools, 1Password lets anyone find out exactly what’s happening when their data is being synced. In 1Password click ‘New Item’ 2. Select ‘Login’ 3. Enter ‘Sync.com’ as the title and enter the username (email) you would like to use for Sync 4.

  1. The 1Password keychain is the special file that holds all of your password information. Ususally listed as '1Password.agilekeychain'. ↩

  2. Using that utility will open a world of hurt I won't try to fix. ↩

All I wanted to do was read Hawkeye.

It was such a simple task for a Friday night, but my Marvel app barked that it needed my new password. So I fired up 1Password to get the new password and realized it was the old one. I checked another device and it had the new password, but was missing a new account I had entered earlier in the day. I went back to my iPad and it didn't have the new account either.

Holy $@#%!

After calming down, I did a quick search and started scanning the 1Password forums. I found some of the needed steps in post #63, but they didn't quite work for me. So here's how I fixed 1Password syncing.

  1. I had 5 devices I needed to correct (3 OS X and 2 iOS) all on version 4.x of 1Password. In any event, scan your devices for what appears to be the best version of your 1Password keychain1 on an OS X device and take it offline. Dropbox management isn't on par on iOS as it is on OS X, so the following steps are easier from a Mac.
  2. Set syncing of the keychain of your good copy to a local folder so 1Password is sync'd locally and ignores the Dropbox copy. You want to enable syncing so you have an easily locate a copy of your keychain.
  3. Open Dropbox and create a new secure note in the good copy as a test to prove that syncing is working later.
  4. On all of your other devices, open up 1Password and disable syncing. Do not enable local syncing either.
  5. Turn off wifi/network access for all of your devices.
  6. Go back to the OS X device that has the good copy of your keychain and do the following:
    • Make sure wifi/network access is on.
    • Open your Dropbox folder and delete the 1Password.agilekeychain in the Dropbox root folder or any other folder you may have used, e.g. Apps1Password or something else.
    • Create a 1Password folder in the root of your Dropbox folder.
    • Open 1Password and set the syncing back to Dropbox. 1Password will recognize the new folder in Dropbox and run home to mommy and put the keychain in there.
  7. On an iOS device:
    • Make sure wifi/cellular is still turned off.
    • Delete the 1Password app by holding down on the icon until you get the 'x' to remove it.
    • Turn on wifi/cellular service to the device.
    • Open the iOS App Store app and download 1Password again.
    • Open 1Password and set it up again with Dropbox syncing.
    • Again, 1Password will recognize the 1Password folder and default to picking up the keychain there.
    • Open 1Password and the note you previously entered will be there.
    • Repeat same steps on any other iOS device(s).
  8. On your other OS X device(s):
    • DO NOT use the 1Password 3 uninstall utility.2
    • Make sure wifi/network access is still off on OS X device.
    • Make sure 1Password is closed.
    • From the first OS X device, use the following steps to reset 1Password: Agilebits 1Password Reset.
    • Enable wifi/network access.
    • Open 1Password and set it up with Dropbox syncing.
    • 1Password again will find the 1Password folder and sync with that keychain.
    • Open 1Password and the note you previously entered will be there.
    • Repeat the same steps for any other OS X device(s).
  9. At this point all of your devices will be in sync.
  10. Enter a new test note on one of the other devices to verify syncing is working.

I've been running this way for most of the morning and have not had any syncing discrepancies.

1password sync with icloud vs dropbox


Got any questions? Feel free to hit me up on Twitter at @MyGeekDaddy.

  1. The 1Password keychain is the special file that holds all of your password information. Ususally listed as '1Password.agilekeychain'. ↩

  2. Using that utility will open a world of hurt I won't try to fix. ↩