Export to PDF Removed in Version 8?

Hi MrC,

I've sent a feature request to 1Password support to provide a human readable listing of the information stored in a 1Password vault. I think providing password information via a paper listing to family members who might not be able to obtain it otherwise in a stressful situation is an important use case and 1Password should provide a solution. You may be right that they'll reject it, but I'll give it a try.

Regarding backups, my definition of "complete backup" is a set of data (files and folders) that can be used to restore the behavior of 1Password to it's state when the backup was made. An example of this would be if I used a disk image backup solution like Macrium Reflect or Acronis to restore my PC to an earlier state where everything including 1Password would behave at the time of the backup. If a full disk image can restore 1Password successfully (and I expect it can) then it should be possible to identify the files that record the complete state of 1Password, back them up, and then at a later time restore them to their earlier state. To do this all I need to know is which files and folders record 1Password's state. I might be able to figure this out myself, but it would be helpful if someone (including you or 1Password) could provide this information.

This would be useful any time that the 1Password app or services became broken or damaged. I realize that 1Password is dedicated to ensuring that these types of problems do not occur, but I've seen similarly dedicated organizations fail ensure that their services always work. I backup everything else on my PC that's critical to me and I would like to do the same with 1Password.

Thanks,
Mike

Hi MikeA01730

A quick reply to your comments / questions:

First, I'd still like for 1P to export PDFs that

Personally, I wouldn't bet on this pony. I'm not trying to be Negative Nelly, but this request hasn't gained any positive traction in a decade.

Importing a CSV file into Excel and then finding the password field is something that I can't assume that my family can do reliably

But you could print a reasonable CSV to PDF, right?

I'd like to be able to backup and restore 1P data with no loss of capabilities or information. ... Can you tell me what 1P files and folders I can store to create a complete backup?

I don't believe the 1Password Personal or Family offerings provide a full account dump that could be restored to some point in the past (aka a snapshot). And I don't know enough about their business offerings / capabilities to comment. So, 1Password's servers are your backups, and 1PUX is a very solid export that contains enough to have access to the most important data. The caveats and points I mentioned above were to provide as much data as I could think of specifically so that I could sufficiently address the term you've been using... "complete backup", and yet refrain from using that term since it hasn't been well defined.

Hi MrC,

Thanks for that comprehensive reply.

I'm with you re exporting to unencrypted formats. I export directly to a Veracrypt volume, create an AES-encrypted 7zip file, and keep that. The unencrypted files from 1P are always encrypted.

I have 2 separate concerns. First, I'd still like for 1P to export PDFs that I can store in a safe place (i.e. my safe deposit box) so that if I'm unavailable members of my family can obtain my passwords. Importing a CSV file into Excel and then finding the password field is something that I can't assume that my family can do reliably, particularly in a stressful situation. I guess I need to take that up directly with 1P support.

Second, I'd like to be able to backup and restore 1P data with no loss of capabilities or information. You've made it clear that the 1pux format has significant weaknesses for that use. Can you tell me what 1P files and folders I can store to create a complete backup? I believe that if I backed up the right files, installed 1P on the same or different machine, and then restored those files into the new install I'd have completed a backup and restore and be able to access my 1P data with no losses.

Thanks,
Mike

Hi MikeA01730 ,

Perhaps I can help clarify some points.

First, the link you reference is incorrect in several ways. It gives a basic overview of 1PUX, but many details are incorrect or absent.

And for security-sake, I'll preface... Exporting to an unencrypted format is risky, and should be done as rarely as possible. Users significantly under-estimate or are unaware of the various risks.

• CSV exports, of course, do not include Attachments or Documents, so these are never "backups".

• The Print to PDF feature in earlier versions of 1Password of course was also not a backup - it too, like CSV, was quite lossy. And it was terribly space-inefficient (a document could be 100's of printed pages). To be pedantic, PDF is not an export format, but rather a rendering of each item using a 1Password-designed layout and "printed" using the OS' native PDF rendering engine. With really large or particular documents, this could also generate corrupted / unreadable PDFs.

• 1PIF exports will export Attachments into an attachments folder inside the .1pif folder, but does not export Documents. Any items in the export that have a Related Items link to a Document will lose that linkage, since Documents are not exported. Also the new Medical Record and API Credentials do not re-import into those categories, but rather as Secure Notes. So these are not "backups".

• 1PUX exports include Attachments, Documents, and custom icons, and an import will include these. However, when you export a 1PUX, all vaults in the account are included, and upon import all of those exported vaults are imported into new vaults with the identical names but prefixed by "Imported " (e.g. Personal -> Imported Personal). Also, all items will have their modified dates set to the time of import. The Attachments, Documents and custom icons are stored inside the 1PUX zip file in the files folder, and these items are referenced by the export.data file inside the 1PUX. It also appears that the vaults sharing and permissions are not the same as the originals (and this makes sense since these are new vaults with new items). You will also lose item change history (which is stored only on the 1Password servers). 1PUX is as close to a backup as you have, but it is not lossless. So I would not call it a "complete" backup, and as per my preface, it is probably not a good idea of getting into the habit of exporting / re-importing.

I'll step aside to allow the 1Password support folks address the other details.

Hi Ali,

Thanks for your reply. I guess I'm mistaken. My notes said export to pdf and I assumed they were correct. When I look at my older backups I see .csv files and .1pif files, and now with v. 8 I see .csv and .1pux files.

When I look at https://support.1password.com/1pux-format/ it seems to imply that the .1pux format produced by the export command does not include "all of the Document items, file attachments, and custom icons from the exported account" but instead that's stored in a separate folder named "files". Is that true? If so, then how I do perform a complete backup and restore? To backup do I need to do the export, find the "files" folder, and save it with the .1pux file? Then would a restore require importing the .1pux and replacing the current "files" folder with the one I saved?

I'd still like to suggest that you provide the ability to export PDFs for the reasons I mention in my original post. If I'm unavailable someday I'd like to see a way that my family could look at a formatted listing to find a password or other information stored in 1P instead of trying to figure out how to interpret the .csv in Excel or the .1pux file in some json viewer, or how to do a restore using not just the .1pux file but also restoring the files folder if that's also needed.

Thanks,
Mike

Hey MikeA01730, thanks for reaching out. The option to export to PDF was not offered in 1Password 7. Did you perhaps export to a CSV file instead?

You can export to a CSV in 1Password 8 which will produce a readable copy of your usernames and passwords.

Let me know how that goes or if you have any further questions.

Ali