Asked for master password all the time

I have both the 1Password desktop app for Windows 10 and the 1PasswordX Beta Firefox extension installed. First, the beta extension is supposed to use the desktop app as settings source. On my Mac, it does, on Windows 10 it does not. See screenshots. That is issue #1.

The primary issue is if I walk away from my computer for say an hour, when I come back I have to put the master password in again, even through 1) my computer did not go to sleep, 2) I did not lock my computer and 3) I disabled all of the settings to automatically lock 1Password after a set period of time, sleep or lock. When I lock my computer, 1Password is not accessible and that's enough for me. I don't to be harassed into entering my really long master password every time I return to my computer.

Next issue, I have setup the Windows 10 app to use Windows Hello (see screenshot #3). However, when I open 1Password Desktop, it it not an option, only the password.

Screenshot #1 - 1PasswordX Beta Firefox extension settings

Screenshot #2 - 1PasswordX Windows 10 Login

Screenshot #3 - 1PasswordX Windows 10 Settings

Screenshot #4 - 1PasswordX Windows Version

I know you want to push security and making us enter the password is nice, but the frequency is tiresome. Also, if I elect to turn off those settings, because I enforce access to the desktop via locking my computer, then 1Password should follow my directions and not lock itself anyway. I switched from another password manager that did not have this issue and I can easily switch back if this issue cannot be resolved or is not on the roadmap to be fixed.

The Mac version has much better options for security (timeframe to request password entry, lock on sleep, screensaver, after time interval, etc.). The Windows version just has lock on locked, windows hello, and idle. The Mac version seems to follow the settings as well and with touch ID is not as bad when prompted again, because the touch ID works in the extension and the app. Windows Hello, when it works, only works in the app, not the extension.


1Password Version: 7.3.712
Extension Version: 1.17.6
OS Version: Win 10 Pro 1909 18363.576
Sync Type: Not Provided

Comments

  • Thanks for taking the time to reach out, @njitman! I think most of this is likely traceable to a misconception about 1Password X – 1Password X does not integrate with the desktop app on Windows at all, whether beta or otherwise. It will only adhere to its own lock settings, can't use Windows Hello and does not share a lock state with the desktop app at all. This also means it's going to lock any time you close your browser. On Mac, with desktop app integration, it's able to remain unlocked with your browser closed as a result of that integration, but we can't do that on Windows just yet. The companion extension is still available for Firefox precisely because many folks find desktop app integration more valuable than the features of 1Password X. If you fall into that camp, you can find the companion extension here:

    https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

    On the desktop app front, I'm wondering if perhaps you are seeing this when you've not actually unlocked the desktop app? Given you (understandably) expected it to share a lock state with your extension, I'm guessing you unlocked 1Password X, assumed that covered the desktop app as well, and in reality it never actually unlocked in the first place. Of course, there could be something else going wrong here, but I if you could unlock the desktop app specifically, lock your PC, then check if your app stays unlocked just to be extra sure, I'd appreciate it.

    Finally, Hello. Right now, you need to unlock with your Master Password once before Hello is available. After unlocking once, you can use Hello for each subsequent unlock unless and until you restart your PC or 1Password itself. If you just lock your PC, Hello will remain available. This is something we're hoping to change in a future update, but for now we wanted to some additional due diligence and make sure we're storing your unlock key somewhere that meets our security standards for permanent storage. Right now, that key is cleared when you quit 1Password, so you have to give 1Password the key via your Master Password again each time it restarts.

    Hopefully this helps to explain things a bit better, but if I can clarify anything or you still believe something is misbehaving in light of the above, let me know and we can take a closer look. :+1:

  • njitman
    njitman
    Community Member

    Thanks for clarifying the behavior. Unfortunately, I will almost never open the 1Password desktop app first to establish a lock state. That is login to Windows, open 1Password desktop, unlock with master password and then resume my normal activities. It is almost exclusively open a web page that needs a password, get prompted to hit Ctrl-period and then enter the master password because the browser extension is locked. That is what makes the Mac version so much more usable, once I unlock the browser I am done and also with Touch ID it reduces the number of times you need to enter the password.

    Now that you have clarified the situation, how do I turn off all of this automatic locking, so that I control the show? As I mentioned, I lock and unlock my desktop as needed and when the desktop is locked, nobody including me is getting to 1Password. When I unlock the desktop (Windows) and return to what I was doing, I don't want to find 1Password locked, either the app or the browser extension. I am a developer and spend most of my waking moments logging into one web site or another. The barrier of entering my super long master password is real and I want to minimize if, even if that makes 1Password uneasy. When I am home or in my office, I can routinely leave my computer open and accessible, because it is usually just me. If I need to feel secure or leave for awhile, I will lock the desktop, Win or Mac.

    I currently have all of the settings turned of in 1Password FF. If I close that browser, I will have to re-enter my password regardless of the settings - is that correct? I assume the same for the 1Password desktop app, which is really not my concern, I don't plan to use it that often except to manage data, do backups, etc. And since I open it infrequently, I always get hit with the password option, not Hello, makes sense now.

  • njitman
    njitman
    Community Member

    Follow-up question - you mentioned the regular 1Password browser extension. Please advise why I would pick one over the other. Remember I am using FF on two platforms with account sync on, so whatever extensions I add are shown on both platforms. 1Password FF on Mac shows integration with desktop app, but on Windows it does not. So if I switch back to the regular 1Password extension, I will lose that functionality on the Mac - correct? Please let me know what are the compelling features that would make me pick the regular versus X or point me to the docs where it is explained. Thanks!

  • Greg
    Greg
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @njitman,

    If you lock your Windows PC without closing your browser, 1Password X doesn't lock and you can access your data when you return. However, 1Password X is not integrated with 1Password 7 for Windows and the standalone app will lock, but you will be able to use Windows Hello (and PIN) to unlock the app, if you unlocked 1Password 7 for Windows during your first session.

    It means that you can use our companion 1Password extension + 1Password 7 for Windows on your Windows computer and 1Password X + 1Password 7 for Mac on your Mac. On your Windows PC it will work like this:

    1) You launch your browser and unlock our companion extension there (it will unlock 1Password 7 for Windows automatically).

    2) You lock your computer, while you are away.

    3) You return to your computer, unlock it, and 1Password 7 for Windows (or 1Password extension) will prompt you to unlock. This time you will be able to use Windows Hello (and PIN), avoiding entering your long Master Password.

    The only thing that you will need to do is to disable 1Password X in Firefox on your PC and our companion extension in Firefox on your Mac, if the installed extensions are synced via Firefox Sync. How does that sound?

    You can also learn more about our companion extension here:

    Use the 1Password extension to save and fill passwords on your Mac or Windows PC

    Cheers,
    Greg

  • njitman
    njitman
    Community Member

    Regarding FF Sync functionality, if I disable an extension on one platform it will disable it on both. I just checked with a few extensions and if I disable it on Win, the next time FF sync runs, it disables it on Mac, and vice versa. So, if I have to choose extensions, I guess I have to eliminate 1Password X.

    I am going to test all of the above steps to see if they hold true. Leaving FF open is not a problem, as I am in it all day anyway. Just that I have noticed coming back to my computer with FF still running and 1Password is locked in the browser. But that is 1PasswordX, so let me test with the regular extension and I will report back.

  • njitman
    njitman
    Community Member

    OK, so i have the regular FF extension installed both Mac and Win. Let everything sit for awhile and no locking, so far so good. One thing I do notice is that the ability to fill a site login/password from the textbox is no longer available. You either have to use the CTRL \ or CMD \ shortcut to fill the site or tap on the 1Password icon in the browser to select/fill a site. Also, you have to click again to fill a site with 2FA enabled. I guess that was a 1Password X feature. So I am going to stick with this configuration as it better supports my workflow. The CTRL \ or CMD \ feature is nice, but falls down when you have multiple logins for the same site. It picks one of them to fill, not sure of the selection login, maybe alphabetically.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    @njitman - yep, that's the correct behvivor; inline filling is a feature of 1Password X, but not of the companion 1Password extension. Obviously I don't know your specific workflow/preferences, but many users find the keyboard shortcuts as fast or faster than inline filling. It's kind of a different-strokes-for-different-folks situation, and inline filling is definitely an awesome capability, it's just not possible in the companion extension.

    If you have multiple accounts at the same site (identical sign-in URL saved in each Login item in 1Password), you should get a list of your options, from which you can choose. If 1Password is defaulting to one of your items and not offering the others, are you sure the sign-in URLs are the same?

  • njitman
    njitman
    Community Member

    I was referring to the keyboard shortcut picks one of the matching login items. So, if I have two logins for the same URL and hit CTRL \ or CMD \, 1Password picks one of the two and auto-fills. If I click on the 1Password icon, I can select between the two. If that is a limitation, one suggestion is to force the extension to open on the CTRL \ or CMD \ keyboard shortcut if and only if there are 2+ matching login items.

  • I want to clarify, @njitman, that filling one when two matching Logins exist when using Ctrl + \ is actually not expected behavior. Lars is right about the inline menu – that's a 1Password X thing – but the companion extension should behave as you describe and show mini when there's more than one matching item asking you to select one, just like you see when you click the icon. To clarify are you seeing this behavior on both platforms? Also, sticking to Windows this time for my sake since it's the one I know best, do you see all matches listed under exact match or are some/all under close matches? Thanks!

  • njitman
    njitman
    Community Member

    Just tried it on Windows 10 + FF standard browser extension. I went to AWS sign-in page where I have multiple accounts, so several login items. I hit CTRL \ and it selected one, filled the form and moved on to the 2FA page for entry. The one it selected was in exact match, all of the others are in close matches. Upon inspection, I noticed that one of the login items had a different sign-in page, which I assume it why it was selected as an exact match. I updated that login to match the rest and now they all show as close matches, forcing me to pick one as expected.

    So with that fixed I think we have solved all of my workflow issues. Thanks to all for helping chase it down.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    @njitman - great! Glad to hear you were able to get it all sorted out. :) :+1:

This discussion has been closed.