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jau
September 6, 2026

1Password unlock with device security concern

  • September 6, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 5 views

The “Unlock with device” feature always unlocks the app even when using the mac password to unlock the device. 

 

The positioning and the lack of warning messages when the option “Unlock with mac password” is disabled is concerning. 

 

The options I have are, 

Unlock options

 

If “Unlock with device” is turned on, the protection from the deliberate action to disable “Unlock with Mac password” is lost, since the machine can be locked and unlocked using the mac password (and even my apple watch). And unlocking the machine automatically unlocks 1Password.

 

This is concerning. I expected to be shown a warning, or not even allowed to select any value other than `off` for “Unlock with Device”.

Pinned Reply By 1P_Dave

Hello ​@jau! 👋

Thanks for reaching out! This is expected behaviour and doesn’t indicate a security issue. Unlock with Mac password lets you unlock 1Password directly using your Mac password. Unlock with device lets 1Password unlock when you unlock your Mac using your Mac password, Touch ID, or Apple Watch.

The “Unlock app with Mac password” setting is entirely separate option from “Unlock with device”. When your Mac is unlocked, 1Password can tell that you authenticated to the device, but it can’t tell which method you used. If you’d prefer to avoid 1Password from unlocking when you unlock your device, you can turn off “Unlock with device”. You can read more about Unlock with device here: Unlock 1Password when you unlock your device

-Dave

1 reply

1P_Dave
1Password Employee
1P_DavePinned
1Password Employee
September 8, 2026

Hello ​@jau! 👋

Thanks for reaching out! This is expected behaviour and doesn’t indicate a security issue. Unlock with Mac password lets you unlock 1Password directly using your Mac password. Unlock with device lets 1Password unlock when you unlock your Mac using your Mac password, Touch ID, or Apple Watch.

The “Unlock app with Mac password” setting is entirely separate option from “Unlock with device”. When your Mac is unlocked, 1Password can tell that you authenticated to the device, but it can’t tell which method you used. If you’d prefer to avoid 1Password from unlocking when you unlock your device, you can turn off “Unlock with device”. You can read more about Unlock with device here: Unlock 1Password when you unlock your device

-Dave

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