Why do I get error message saying "Cannot open 1Password data"

Hi @AMCarter3!

This copy of 1Password cannot open your data.

It sounds like you might have multiple copies of the 1Password app on your device. If you open the Applications folder on your Mac, do you see more than one 1Password app there?

Alternatively, do you have an external disk connected with a backup?

I have only one 1P app in my applications folder. I do have an external clone backup and Time Machine backup. They are always connected to my laptop. I have never seen this error message in all the many years I have used 1P. What's more strange is that the 1P app opens on the 2nd or 3rd try. After it has opened once, I can open it again without seeing the error message... until the next morning.

@AMCarter3

We recommend adding an exception for the 1Password app to any clones or Time Machine drives that you may be using. I suspect you may be running up against that. Or perhaps 1Password has been added to your login items on the Mac.

If you see “extra copies of 1Password found”

I'm positive I do not have extra copies of 1Password on my computer. I'm aware of that issue from past experience. What I do have is a clone backup on an external drive. This has not been an issue for years. It is my (and yours?) speculation that this odd behavior may be related to this clone backup. But, the behavior doesn't appear to be the same as when there are multiple copies of 1Password on the internal hard drive. For example, with the external drive attached, 1P starts normally most of the time. Only on some days, I get that "permissions" error message on the first attempt to start 1P desktop. And again, it starts normally on the 2nd (or maybe 3rd) attempt. And it restarts normally the rest of that day. This, to me, does not suggest there is a conflict with the clone backup... but maybe I'm wrong.

How would I create an exception for the backup copy of 1P on my clone drive?

@AMCarter3:

How would I create an exception for the backup copy of 1P on my clone drive?

What software do you use to make your backups?

CCC -- Carbon Copy Cloner

@AMCarter3:

I have found this in Carbon Copy Cloner's documentation:

https://bombich.com/kb/ccc5/excluding-files-and-folders-from-backup-task

Once you have excluded 1Password from the backup, and you have removed existing backup copies of the 1Password app from your backup disk (the instructions to do that are in Tommy's post above), if you stop receiving this error message, then you found the root cause of this behavior you are seeing ;)

Aha! I inaccurately assumed you were referring to some feature in 1P that would allow me to exclude it from backups. I understand that I can do it in CCC. However, if I do that and ever need to recover my files and apps from my CCC clone backup, 1P would be missing. In that scenario (as unlikely as it is), I would just download and install a new copy of 1P and link it to my 1P data, right?

@AMCarter3

Yes, that is correct. You would download the app, and away you go. That's the very same procedure I would follow, given I also have the exceptions in place for Time Machine and CCC.

Hmmm... I excluded 1Password from Carbon Copy Cloner several days ago. I verified it is excluded today. Why? Because I'm still getting the same error message when I restart my computer or when I wake it in the morning. The message says: "Cannot open 1Password Data. This copy of 1Password cannot open your data. The most likely cause is insufficient permissions, and not a problem with the data itself. Please contact customer support for a solution."

And, as before, my 2nd attempt to open 1Password is always successful. Both the desktop and browser extension open and work normally. Since 1P is NOT being copied to my clone backup, I don't understand why this error message occurs. Could 1P be seeing its data base in my Time Machine backup and getting confused?