should i keep a written record or log of passwords?
I assume I'm not expected to remember all my new strong passwords. But that is not reassuring if at some point I'm expected to know a given password and can't get to it on 1Password.
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Well, yes, if you can't use your password manager (and one, not just 1PW) then you obviously can't access your passwords.
But 1PW does have a copy of all your passwords on each device where you have it installed, and (if you have a subscription) also has a copy held at 1password.com from where they can be accessed on any device. It's a touch more complicated than that, but thta's a good enough simplified explanation.
What you do need to have written down are your Secret Key (which is created for you during initial signup, when you are advised to print out an emergency kit containing it). You also need to know your Master Password, which you choose yourself during initial set up. The Secret Key needs writing down, as i'ts not something you can remember. Whether and where you write down your Master Password is up to you, but there is no way to recover your passwords if you forget your master password.
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Welcome to the forum, @JamesOHara! Indeed, that's the point of 1Password -- you remember ONE (hopefully long, strong and well-chosen Master Password), and 1Password remembers everything else for you. That does come with some risk - if you forget your Master Password, you'll lose access to everything else and have to go through laborious reset processes at every site you had a Login item saved in 1Password for (not to mention other, non-login items). If you're a member of a 1Password Families or 1Password Teams account, your Administrator will be able to help you recover your account in such cases, but if you have an Individual account or you run 1Password in standalone mode, you won't have that option. That's why we suggest people write down their Master Password on paper and keep it somewhere safe, perhaps in a floor safe or safety-deposit box or with a trusted attorney, in case of such an eventuality.
There's no doubt, if you're coming from the world of having to remember all your own passwords, that putting everything in the hands of a piece of software and "letting go" of the chore of having to remember them all, so that you don't even know your own passwords, can be a bit intimidating. But that's what 1Password's core function is, and indeed, it's why the tag-line of the front page of 1password.com is "Go ahead. Forget your passwords." -- because believe it or not, it's actually a lot LESS secure to try to remember them all your self than it is to use 1Password. The human brain is good at many things, but remembering multiple long, random strings of characters (passwords) just isn't one of them. Most of us can only remember three or four unique passwords, and so we either wind up using the same one everywhere, or we iterate on the same one or two -- maybe add a digit or a character here or there, etc. But that only confuses US, when we can't remember if this is the site where we added the
$at the end, or that was a different site, etc, resulting in us still having to go through account recovery processes, often.As far as having access to your passwords stored in 1Password all the time, since you can install 1Password on every device (within reason) you own, and since most of us these days carry our phones with us everywhere (or at least, everywhere we'd be needing to use a password for something), it's not likely we'll be without access to our data. Do you anticipate a use-case where you wouldn't have access to at least one of your devices, but need to access some of your 1Password data?
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First let me say thanks for that clear and very cogent reply. My question may seem fussy but I've worried about this since I signed on with 1Password. My password concerns date back to about 1980, in an academic setting; I don't need to tell you that computer security has gotten more complicated over the years. I won't go into the details of how I've coped during that time, but so far except for one recent incident my methods and those of my employer seem to have worked. I doubt that this instance will turn out to have involved 1Password; if it does I will contact you.
Adding 1Password has had a reassuring effect. My question simply reflects a nagging concern that 1. Murphy's Law is not entirely a humorous conceit, and 2. Assuming that a state of perfection has been reached in any situation is always foolish. Your answer gives me even more reassurance that you and your colleagues are not likely to overlook either of these cautions. Thank you again!
Jim O'Hara0 -
@JamesOHara - oh, indeed -- 1Password is built around the notion that all systems, including human beings, are fallible. There are indeed ways one could get oneself into a state that resulted in data loss or corruption with 1Password, which is why we try to recommend backups and workarounds that will allow users to avoid the worst outcomes without compromising their day-to-day security (like suggesting people write their Master Password on a sticky note on their monitor ;) ). It's an ongoing process and a moving target as threat models, OS versions and multiple other technologies continue to evolve. But that's the balance we try to strike consistently. Glad to hear I've helped reassure you, and feel free to drop by any time if you have questions about 1Password. :)
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