Export creates extremely wide CSV file?

Hi,
I tried exporting my 1password items as a csv in order to have a backup, however I noticed it created a new column for each site, with slightly different names, e.g. login_password vs new-password vs PASSWORD for the password field.

Is there any way to export the data in a more usable format?

Dan


1Password Version: 7.3.657
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Windows 10
Sync Type: Not Provided

Comments

  • Greg
    Greg
    1Password Alumni
    edited April 2019

    Hi @danznz,

    I am sorry for the troubles with 1Password!

    We have no intention to lock you in, but currently there is an issue with export in 1Password 7 for Windows. We have plans to fix it in one of the future updates for sure. When you have a 1Password.com account, you do not need to set up backups manually, but I agree that you should be able to export your data.

    There are no local backups with 1Password.com accounts at the moment, we handle the backups for you on our servers. Our subscription service performs a continuous automated and encrypted backup of the entire database, provided by Amazon Web Services (https://aws.amazon.com/rds/aurora/). You can print out your Emergency Kit, write down the important info there, and store it in a secure place. This way you will always have access to your data.

    Please let me know if you have any other questions about the situation you are in. We are always here for you. Thank you!

    ++
    Greg

    ref: opw/opw#3442

  • danznz
    danznz
    Community Member

    Thanks, does that mean if I use a different operating system I could export cleanly, or is there a way to export successfully online? Or are there any other workarounds in the meantime, or do you have a target date to fix?

    I want to make my own backup in case your company ceases to exist or is bought out by another company, or the sync process corrupts just my user info (as I'm sure you would not roll back everybody else to just fix me ;) ) - so I think it's critical for users to make their own backups.

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    1Password for Mac, being an older codebase, already has support for other export formats. You'd get a better result there using 1PIF, for example. CSV is more broadly supported, so we started with that in Windows, but it lacks the flexibility for some of the custom stuff we do with 1Password.

    The server validates any changes before committing them, and has more robust error correction and redundancy than any consumer equipment. In the event that both AgileBits and AWS are wiped out, that would be irrelevant though (server can't get corrupt data if it does not exist), and you'd still have your 1Password data on any devices you'd already used it on. Also that would not magically remove the app from your devices, so you could simply use it there, and/or copy items to a local vault for safekeeping. There are a number of other tools out there that can read local vaults. Cheers! :)

  • danznz
    danznz
    Community Member

    Hi, any update/ETA on when this will be fixed? I note it's been four months, and I still get terrible exports. Is there any way I can get a clean export of my database on Windows yet?

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    The code is there, but it hasn't been released in an update yet because we're working on important improvements that need to take precedence. Thanks for your patience.

  • Isambard
    Isambard
    Community Member

    Well I, for one, wish you would do this real soon. I'm currently using the trial version and will have to make a decision by August 15th whether to sign up. The ability to export the usernames and passwords is a requirement for me -- my partner will not use a product that does mysterious things for her without having the up-to-date data on a piece of paper.

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @Isambard! Welcome to the forum!

    To be clear, the information can be exported already, and all information is there in the export file. The bug here is that the export file has additional columns, or columns out of order, not that it's missing data.

  • Googles
    Googles
    Community Member

    Sorry if im supposed to start new thread...
    Same Problem here: "The bug here is that the export file has additional columns, or columns out of order, not that it's missing data."
    Yes The data looks all messed up, unreadable...

    Can i export .csv if i use older version of 1Pass? Thanks

  • As a rule, @Googles, no export is going to very readable – at least by a human. They're designed to be read by computers which, at least thus far, still don't quite think and read the way we do, so exports just aren't the friendliest things to human eyes regardless of format. Depending on what you're using the export for, though, I could absolutely suggest some alternatives. What will work best really depends on your end goal, so if you can let me know what you're trying to do, I can likely point you towards something workable. :+1:

  • Googles
    Googles
    Community Member
    edited July 2019

    Thank You Kate
    What im trying to do is get all my passwords exported in a CSV file.
    Ive tried exporting from my 1Pass desktop app but it always looks scrambled when i try opening in excel..

    I expected it to be in sorted columns like Website,User,Password etc.

    See Pic

  • I don't know that this will be adequate, particularly since I'm a LibreOffice gal and Excel may behave differently, but I've found unchecking tab as a separator improves things, @Googles. I've also found it helpful to export different item types separately in some cases, if that's an option for you. Again, though, there may be value is using an older version of 1Password or a different alternative depending on the purpose of this CSV (backup, moving data elsewhere, etc.). Few of those solutions are ideal for all scenarios, though, so I hesitate to recommend one without understanding what the CSV is meant to be used for. I'd definitely give unchecking tab a try and see if that's enough improvement, but if you're still having trouble and are willing to share your end goal, I may be able to suggest further improvements.

  • Googles
    Googles
    Community Member

    Kate
    "but if you're still having trouble and are willing to share your end goal, I may be able to suggest further improvements."

    Sure, after almost a decade with 1PW i received a offer i cant refuse and need to import my 1PW passwords to the new system... And
    it needs to be a .csv file...

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    @Googles: That sounds ominous. :sweat: And, on top of that, if it has to be CSV, I'm not sure we have a good solution for you in the short term. I'm really sorry if that ends up being the case. :( But I have an important question to see what -- if any -- options there are: Is your 1Password data in a membership account, or a local vault? (If the latter, please specify the format -- OPVault or AgileKeychain.)

  • Isambard
    Isambard
    Community Member

    Well, ag_ana, it doesn't really matter whether all the fields are there if the result is unusable as a CSV file. Generally, a CSV file exported from most apps, when imported into Excel, creates a flat file structure, with a single column heading for each variable of interest (ala SQL). I think what you and brenty ar saying is that you are not able to supply that using your export family -- in which case your product (which is pretty good) won't work for me.

  • Isambard
    Isambard
    Community Member

    I mean "export facility" -- damn autofill !!!

  • Googles
    Googles
    Community Member

    Problem Fixed!
    Downloaded 1Pass V4 and exported .CSV
    Seems to be a problem with V7.

    Anyway, Thanks for all the help...

  • It is definitely a problem with 7, @Googles, but as brenty was working towards, 1Password 4 is pretty easy to use to export a standalone vault, but not so much with a 1Password membership. That's why I kind of hesitate to recommend it out the gate. It will give you a better CSV, but it won't be easy if you need to move a ton of data around. It's also fine for importing into a new tool, but not so great if you're, for example, wanting to print out a list. There are a number of options that are better or worse for varying scenarios so we really are trying to suggest the best option – it's not a trap. :wink: Obviously, we hope you end up back with us before too long, but a password manager is a very personal choice. It's something you need to trust and that has to fit your needs well. Folks are going to need to take their data elsewhere at times and we're absolutely okay helping with that, even if it does make us sad to see you go.

    And, @Isambard, I'm not going to try to convince your partner she's wrong. Starting to use a password manager is tough and one of the hardest parts is building that trust that your data is being well cared for. Having a hard copy helps in those cases and she's not alone in wanting that. With that said, I'd encourage her to spend some time learning about how password managers (both 1Password and others) handle her data so that it doesn't feel so mysterious. Our goal here is always to keep that data within your control. We won't, for example, modify or delete an item unless you specifically tell 1Password to do that. Only you and those you share with can modify your data and we even provide a record of those modifications for you via Item History so you can always see how that item has changed over time. You can also undo a change if you need to, even if it has been a month since that change was made.

    Forgetting your passwords can feel a lot like giving up control, but I think most folks come to understand that by allowing a password manager to help track your passwords, you end up with more control in the end. Rather than having to remember to add a new account to a written record, for example, the 1Password extension will detect when you've made a change to an account you've saved and prompt you to update that item. Rather than taking control away from you, using a password manager helps you maintain better control by sharing the cognitive burden of keeping track of all those endless online accounts so that you're far less likely to lose those passwords than you might be when shouldering that burden on your own.

    Helping folks feel comfortable making that transition is definitely something I feel all password managers could do more to help with. We know it's hard, but also don't spend as much time as we could considering ways to ease that transition and address those sorts of fears. It sounds like 1Password may not be a good fit for her right now and that's totally okay, but if she feels learning a bit more about how things are handled would help her feel more comfortable, we'd be more than happy to help. And, of course, I hope y'all do find a password manager that she will be happy with, even if that isn't 1Password. It's such an important component of online security these days and you and she are both already ahead of the curve by being willing to take that step at all. I wish you both the best and if you don't end up using 1Password now, I hope we'll see y'all back before too long. :chuffed:

  • danznz
    danznz
    Community Member

    @bundtkate keeping our data within our control includes being able to export it when we want to, and this is the part that's really still worrying me - your company will not last forever, and I want to be able to make a backup so that eventually when you close up shop once your business is no longer profitable, or when you are bought out, or when I need to move to a different product, that I have my passwords and don't have to spend tens or possibly hundreds of hours resetting hundreds of passwords.

    At the moment I can't trust your product fully because I cannot easily do that.

    So I'm still waiting in hope that you can resolve this soon.

  • I don't think anyone is arguing exporting isn't important, @danznz. Personally, it's actually something of a pet issue – the first impression everyone gets of 1Password is how easy it is to get their data in and a huge component of avoiding lock-in is making it easy as possible to get your data out. These are both aspects of 1Password that aren't particularly sexy but I'm still very passionate about. While I understand the challenges they present well and fully understand that we are likely never going to get both of these things working perfectly, I put a lot of focus on advocating for improvements to both of these features whenever I'm given the opportunity and will certainly continue to do so.

    With that said, the way 1Password is designed itself protects from us ceasing to exist and I don't think we'd have been willing to offer 1Password memberships without that protection. Even if we do exist for all eternity, servers need maintenance sometimes, the services we rely on can go down, and at any given time there is probably someone somewhere using 1Password while their internet is out or somewhere with poor connectivity. Yes, sync happens via a cloud service, but your data is stored locally too. In fact, your local data is likely used far more often than any data on our servers. Unless you've changed your data, the most your apps likely get from the server throughout the day is a response essentially saying, "No changes here, carry on." We could flip the switch on the servers today and never turn them on again and you would still have your passwords and be able to view, copy, or export. You can even test this yourself – unplug your ethernet cable, turn off your wifi, or put your phone into airplane mode, then go unlock 1Password. So far as your device is concerned at that moment, our servers don't exist and yet your data will be there.

    Obviously, exporting is still important. It gives you freedom of choice to stay or go as your needs change. We also each have different threat models and the protections in place for server-side issues may not be enough for everyone to feel comfortable. We still want to and will improve exports, but I hope this demonstrates that we do not rely on them exclusively to ensure your data survives something catastrophic for us and that you don't need to rely on them alone either.

  • danznz
    danznz
    Community Member

    @bundtkate keeping our data within our control includes being able to export it when we want to, and this is the part that's really still worrying me - your company will not last forever, and I want to be able to make a backup so that eventually when you close up shop once your business is no longer profitable, or when you are bought out, or when I need to move to a different product, that I have my passwords and don't have to spend tens or possibly hundreds of hours resetting hundreds of passwords.

    At the moment I can't trust your product fully because I cannot easily do that.

    My renewal is coming up soon, and I'm starting to wonder if this will ever get fixed, or whether I need to start looking for an alternative? As I start generating more passwords in the app, I'm scared of how much more work it would be if I ever had to move and couldn't export nicely (it also puts me off generating really secure passwords at the moment).

  • We definitely understand this is an issue for many, @danznz, and it remains on our radar, but beyond that and what I've mentioned before about the integrity of your data should we cease to exist, there's not much else of substance I can add here. I know it's tough for y'all as you don't see the discussion that happens behind these scenes about these topics, but for whatever value it may have this comes up often and is the subject of robust debate internally as well. I know that doesn't itself get things working as you'd like, but I hope it at least shows that it's no an issue that's filed away in a drawer somewhere getting forgotten until someone here brings it up. It's frequently on our minds and has many advocates amongst my teammates in addition to myself. I can't promise this will get sorted before your renewal, but I absolutely will continue to dredge it up as many times as it takes to get the problem resolved, however much time that may require.

  • danznz
    danznz
    Community Member

    Hi, so I'm trying to export my data and I thought I could just install 1Password 4 to do an export, but that doesn't seem to connect to my cloud vault. How can I go about getting my data out at the moment while this feature is still in progress, and move to LastPass?

  • Greg
    Greg
    1Password Alumni

    @danznz: I just sent you an email reply with a possible workaround. Let's continue our conversation there. Thank you! :+1:

    Cheers,
    Greg

    ref: LDW-94751-367

This discussion has been closed.