Error: Database Backup Failed
When 1Password performs a backup, you may see the following error:
Database Backup Failed The 1Password Database could not be backed up. Database exists but is invalid. One or more keys files may be missing.
Those "keys" are the encryption keys for your data, little files that keep all your secret data secret. You'll get this error when the encryption keys go missing for one reason or another. This happens for a number of reasons, the most common being a Dropbox sync that goes wrong, or a third party app deleting pieces from the 1Password data directory. Luckily, there are a couple of "safety nets" in place that might help you recover.
SAFETY NET #1:
Change Your Master Password
If you can still open the main 1Password application and everything seems to be working normally, the easiest way to resolve the issue is to simply change your Master Password.
You can change it back immediately afterwards if you like, but changing it to something different will generate the encryption keys again (Preferences > Security > Change Master Password). More detailed instructions are also available:
How do I change my master password?
Again, please be sure to choose a new password rather than re-using the old password. Otherwise, the encryption keys will not be generated again, and this solution will not work.
SAFETY NET #2:
Restore From Earlier Backup
If the first Safety Net doesn't work, your next course of action is to try restoring your 1Password data file from an earlier backup. To do that, within 1Password go to the File menu and choose File > Restore From Backup:
and select the most recent backup from the window that pops up:
If that fails, choose the next newest, and keep working backwards until you find one that restores successfully.
NOTE: This window will list backups either for the last 30 days (MAS version) or for whatever time you have configured in the Preferences (non-MAS version). For older backups, go to Time Machine or whatever other backup solution you use.
SAFETY NET #3:
Restore Encryption Keys From Dropbox
Should the above suggestions not resolve your issue, then if you are backing up in Dropbox, you can restore your files there. Dropbox keeps a 30-day history of each file uploaded, so if you need to revert to an earlier version you can.
First, quit 1Password to make sure we don't damage any of your data. To try restoring, view your files on the Dropbox Website, and locate your 1Password folder in the list:
From there, go to 1Password > 1Password.agilekeychain > Data > Default and you should see a bunch of nonsense character names. Then click on the 'Show deleted files' button:
And if they are available for you to restore, you want to look for two files named '1password.keys' and 'encryptionKeys.js'. If they've been deleted, they will be light grey, like this:
Select the file and click on restore:
Click OK on the dialog, and the file will be back. Be sure to repeat this process for both '1password.keys' and 'encryptionKeys.js' so both get restored.
Once they are restored, relaunch 1Password and see if you get the same error when you try to back up your data file.