Accessing 1Password on a new device

The 2fa code is asked every time you sign in to a new device after installation. So if you activate 2fa for 1Password, you need to add the 1Password mfa QR code to your emergency kit. I printed both, so I scan the code from paper to any independent authenticator app in case I lose access to every device.

In case I'm on on vacation and lose my phone, I would ask myself if I really need to access my accounts from remote for the rest of the vacation. It might be sufficient to just buy a new cheap phone and some prepaid SIM card with internet access to get general internet and general telephone access. I would create a fresh and temporary Google account for the cheap android phone. Usually, that's enough phone for vacation.

If you have someone at home with access to your 1Password account, you could install Whatsapp on your replacement phone and ask him or her to send you your credentials including the mfa secret used for 1Password, if he or she has access to it. Whatsapp chat is end-to-end encrypted, so sending this via private chat is secure enough I assume. Don't do this via email, email isn't secure enough. If you have the secret, enter it into a standalone authenticator all such as Google Authenticator, so you get the TOTP code.

One more factor in my vacation scenario: Let's say I have 2FA turned on in my 1Password account and lose my trusted phone that has my 2FA authenticator installed. I get a new phone and have my Emergency Kit with all my 1Password login information available by some means. If I log in on the new untrusted phone with the Emergency Kit info, will I be challenged with 2FA? If so, I am not sure how to handle a 2FA challange in this case....

Hey @luvboating, in a situation where you do not have another 1Password trusted device, have lost your phone, and do not have your Secret Key, I'm afraid the options would be severely limited. If you have a Families account, and another person was the owner, they could reset your account info for you. If you have an Individual account though, the only way to get access to your 1Password account again would be to get ahold of your Emergency Kit. Otherwise, you would have to wait until you're back home so that you have access to other 1Password trusted devices.

Please note that your Secret Key exists to protect your data. Though the situation above would put you in a tough spot, the situation in which someone finds your Account Password and is able to sign in to any device without your Secret Key can be worse.

We have an article about our security model, which can be found here: https://support.1password.com/1password-security/

Please take a look, and if you have any further questions, please let us know.