New thing that’s been happening since macOS 16.0: The option to unlock 1P with my Apple Watch (series 7, fully updated) as a biometric works, but eventually it just stops functioning, and the option in the 1P Security preferences section completely disappears. To remedy this, I can go to System Settings and toggle off and on again (in the Login Password section) the ability to unlock apps on this Mac with my Apple Watch—which will restore the option in Security in 1P. Turning it back on will allow it to work again for a time, but eventually the option again disappears (after locking 1P and stepping away for an hour last time), which starts the whole troubleshoot cycle over again. Any ideas what to try to fix this? Really do love that feature in 1P, but it seems broken and I’m not sure if it’s the latest macOS (the unlocking feature otherwise works everywhere else, so I’m doubtful) or just a 1P bug. Thanks! 1Password Version: 8.9.8 Extension Version: 2.3.8 OS Version: macOS 13.0 Browser:_ Not Provided

Ventura 13.5 (MacBook Pro 16" M2 Max) WatchOS 9.6 (Apple Watch Ultra) 1Password 8.10.9 I still have this issue. Mac itself unlocks 100% of the time with the Watch. After Mac has been unlocked with the watch, 1Password unlock with the Watch works about maybe 50% of time immediately, and for the remaining 50% it will take about 20-30 minutes before it starts working (if I don't do anything in terms of switching Watch unlock feature on and off). For the 1Password unlocking with Watch starting to work, I never need to do anything specific, just wait that approx 20-30 minutes after Mac has been unlocked with the Watch. And indeed about 50% of times the 1Password unlock also works instantly after unlocking the Mac with the Watch. I don't put my Mac to sleep, I only turn my display off with the hot corner. So this issue isn't just related to sleep, waking from sleep, and unlocking, but also if the display has been long enough off. I would say if the display has been only off for an hour or so, I rarely if ever encounter the 1Password not being able to be unlocked with the Watch for the first 20-30 mins or so. The issue usually happens overnight when the display has been off for several hours or when I've just otherwise been away from the computer for several hours and the display has been off. Anyway, it's still frustrating and shouldn't be this unreliable. Why does the Mac unlock itself with the Watch work every time, but not 1Password? There's a bug somewhere, and I'm not surprised if it's in Apple's own code, and not 1Password's. Hopefully it gets fixed with the Sonoma release.

mixture Sorry to hear you're still having trouble with this. Why does the Mac unlock itself with the Watch work every time, but not 1Password? Although I'm not familiar with the inner workings of macOS, I do know that unlocking 1Password requires the use of your Mac's Secure Enclave chip, whereas unlocking your Mac doesn't. That means that although these two actions of using your Apple Watch to unlock something look very similar, they're being handled very differently by macOS. Unlocking your Mac when it's asleep or in screen saver isn't decryption, it's access control. Unlocking 1Password, however, is always a decryption task which needs a decryption key stored in the Secure Enclave. We also have to keep in mind that 1Password can't do any detection of your Apple Watch. That's all down to macOS, and it has to report whether there's an Apple Watch connected or not each time 1Password asks. Any and all use of biometrics (which includes Apple Watch in this case) must be co-ordinated by macOS and the Secure Enclave. There's a parallel here with Touch ID. If you have a Touch ID-enabled Mac attached to an external display, keyboard, and mouse, you won't be prompted to use Touch ID to unlock 1Password if the lid is closed. This isn't because 1Password knows the lid is closed (and that therefore, the Touch ID sensor is unavailable). It's because macOS knows, and responds to 1Password with a "biometrics not available"-type message when 1Password asks if it's available. In those cases, 1Password will fall back to asking for your account password to unlock. From what we know so far, it seems like macOS isn't always reporting the Apple Watch's availability to 1Password accurately, which manifests itself as if 1Password seemingly not working as you'd expect, even though 1Password has no way of knowing whether your Apple Watch is out of range, switched off, or if it had been unpaired from the Mac, or is unavailable for some other reason. Because of the Mac's security architecture, 1Password has to take what macOS says as the truth, since it has no way to verify otherwise, and if that "upstream" information isn't accurate, 1Password will believe it. We're hopeful that Apple can get to the bottom of why this is happening and remediate it so that apps like 1Password, or any others that unlock with Apple Watch, won't face this problem in the long term.

JamesHenderson I'm sorry for the frustration. The development team is continuing to investigate the issue and there are improvements in the latest nightly versions of 1Password for Mac that are being tested. So that we can see if one of these improvements may help you can you please wait until you encounter the issue again and then I'd like to ask you to create a diagnostics report from your Mac: Sending Diagnostics Reports (Mac) Attach the diagnostics to an email message addressed to support+forum@1password.com. With your email please include: A link to this thread: https://1password.community/discussion/comment/695800/#Comment_695800 Your forum username: JamesHenderson Please do not post your diagnostic report to the forum. This is for your privacy and security. Please send the entire file. You should receive an automated reply from our BitBot assistant with a Support ID number. Please post that number here. Thanks very much! -Dave ref: dev/core/core#18393

JamesHenderson Thank you for sending in the diagnostics report, I see that my colleague and you have already started a conversation to investigate the issue on your Mac further. Please continue the discussion there. 🙂 -Dave ref: VVI-26511-573

Hi there @MindFad This one's a tricky problem to troubleshoot, because 1Password has to be "told" by macOS that an Apple Watch is paired with the Mac, much like it does for Touch ID. 1Password actually treats the Apple Watch as a "biometric" device just like Touch ID on the keyboard. As such, if you're not seeing "Unlock with Apple Watch" appear in 1Password's Preferences > Security, it would usually indicate that it's not aware that an Apple Watch is paired. There's no way for 1Password to discover that on its own without being informed about it by macOS. Considering you've already tried the steps you listed, which would be the first thing I'd recommend, you might want to try these things (in order) to see if they help: Make sure that Do Not Disturb or Focus is not enabled on either your Mac or Apple Watch. You'll see a 🌙 crescent moon in the menu bar of your Mac and above your watch face on your Apple Watch if so. Because the unlock prompt on your Apple Watch is essentially a notification, it might be suppressed by either of these. Check for (and apply) any updates to macOS. The Unlock With Apple Watch feature, along with other security features like Touch ID (if your Mac has it) might not work if there's a pending macOS update. Update macOS on Mac - Apple Support If your Mac has an Intel chip, try resetting the System Management Controller. (You can find out if your Mac has an Intel chip or is using Apple Silicon by clicking the  Apple menu > About This Mac. You'll see either Processor: Intel... or Chip: Apple....) The methods for resetting the SMC of a Mac vary depending on model, so I've included a link to Apple Support's article about how to do it here: How to reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support ☞ This step will by definition restart your Mac, so you may want to pause here and see if the resolution lasts. Then if not, move on to step 4 below. Sign out of iCloud and back in. Sign out of iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac - Apple Support Sign in with your Apple ID - Apple Support Have a try with those and let me know how things go. The team and I will be here if you need any more help. :) — Grey

Apple Watch Unlock Option Disappearing / Not Functioning

51 Replies

Ramst3r
Occasional Contributor
7 hours ago
I recently purchased an Apple Watch Series 11, one of the main reasons of which was to streamline 1Password authentication. Alas it has been anything but pleasant for I am experiencing exactly the same issues as above between my MacBook Studio M2 Max running macOS 15.6.2 and watchOS 26.0.2 on Watch Series 11, namely:
1. 1Password unlock with Apple watch setting (under Security menu item on 1Password mac client) keeps getting removed, and:
2. If another macOS user with Apple watch logs in to macOS before me then not only will my 1Password/Watch integration not work, but my whole macOS login session is hijacked by 1Password which keeps grabbing the window focus away from me.

Given that these issues have not be resolved after 3 years, it would not appear that Agilebits have given up trying to resolve this issue.
1P_Dave
Moderator
2 years ago
uythoang

Thanks for the information. Out of curiosity, are you able to use your Apple Watch on system prompts when multiple users are added to your Mac:

Click on the  in the menu bar.

Click System Settings.

Click Privacy & Security.

Click Advanced.

As a temporary troubleshooting step, turn on "Log out automatically after inactivity".

You'll now see a macOS system prompt asking you to confirm the action. You should receive a double-tap notification on your Apple Watch.

Are you able to use the Apple Watch to authenticate the macOS system prompt? Once this test is complete you can turn off "Log out automatically after inactivity" if you wish.

-Dave
uythoang
New Contributor
2 years ago
Not sure if this has been mentioned, but if you have another macOS user logged in the Apple Watch feature won't work to unlock your Mac nor will it appear as an option in 1Password.
1P_Tommy
Moderator
2 years ago
Thanks Experiments It's here. Someone will be with you as soon as possible.

ref: ZPW-81152-919
Experiments
New Contributor
2 years ago
The support id is [#ZPW-81152-919]
1P_Dave
Moderator
2 years ago
Experiments

I'm sorry that you're still seeing the issue. Our developers have implemented several improvements to the Apple Watch unlock process to mitigate many of the issues that have been reported to us. We've also filed feedback with Apple to report issues with certain APIs.

So that we can investigate the specific issue on your Mac, and confirm whether you're affected by the known issues that our team has identified, I'd like to ask you to create a diagnostics report from your Mac:

Sending Diagnostics Reports (Mac)

Attach the diagnostics to an email message addressed to support+forum@1password.com.

With your email please include:

A link to this thread: https://1password.community/discussion/comment/704106/#Comment_704106

Your forum username: Experiments

Please do not post your diagnostic report to the forum. This is for your privacy and security.

Please send the entire file.

You should receive an automated reply from our BitBot assistant with a Support ID number. Please post that number here. Thanks very much!

-Dave
Experiments
New Contributor
2 years ago
Any news on this? This still only works about 50% of the time for me...oddly, when it stops working, I put my mac to sleep & then wake it up again straight away & it starts working again...sadly it'll stop working again over course of the next few hours...
1P_Tommy
Moderator
2 years ago
@tormodg

The Mac unlock works directly on the device and 1Passwords Apple Watch Unlock works through an Apple API. This could explain the differences you see. Please check to ensure that no focuses are active. It sounds like one may be. I've found a few of mine get turned on for some odd reason. I've gone to not sharing focuses between my Mac and my phone. My culprit is often Sleep and also Do not Disturb. With focus sharing off on the Mac now I don't encounter this that often.
Former Member
2 years ago
My Apple Watch Ultra (1) unlocks my Mac M2, but never works with 1Password 8. If I click the watch icon in the unlock screen, a popup briefly flashes for a millisecond and the main login window shakes. It's been like this for so long that I'm considering either ditching 1Password on my personal Mac, or getting a touch-id keyboard (which is too expensive atm).
1P_Dave
Moderator
2 years ago
JamesHenderson

Thank you for sending in the diagnostics report, I see that my colleague and you have already started a conversation to investigate the issue on your Mac further. Please continue the discussion there. 🙂

-Dave

ref: VVI-26511-573