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How To: Enable quick and automatic 1Password data sync with Dropbox

dteare
dteare Agile Founder
in Knowledge Base & FAQs

This article explains how to configure Dropbox to sync your 1Password data file between multiple computers. Right now the instructions cover the Mac and Windows, but we'll soon add iPhone, iPad, and others.

If you'd like to watch a video that explains the Mac setup (though Windows is very similar), give this a shot. Otherwise keep reading below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms3gPNOgr_M

What is Dropbox?

Dropbox is a great service and our recommendation for syncing your files between multiple computers, your smartphone, and tablets. It is incredibly fast, maintains a revision history of your files, is accessible from any browser (useful when traveling), and enables you to share files with others. A free account offers plenty of space to sync your 1Password data file and lots of other documents.

The first step for all users: Setup a Dropbox account

Dropbox has great instructions and a video on their home page that shows how to get up and running quickly. A free account is fine for syncing 1Password data and even lots of other documents.

Mac Instructions

This first section is for Mac users. Instructions for Windows are below.

Step 1: Setup Dropbox on the first Mac

After Dropbox is installed, go to the 1Password > Preferences > General window within 1Password and click Move to Dropbox. 1Password will then ask you to confirm that you'd like to move your data file to your Dropbox folder.

Moving Agile Keychain to Dropbox

That's all there is to it! Your data file is now being monitored by Dropbox and automatically copied to all your other machines. Your data file will show a blue syncing badge during the upload process. When it is finished, it will have a green check mark badge. When it does, you're ready to move on to connecting your other Macs.

Step 2: Setup your other computers

  1. Install Dropbox on your other Macs and PCs.
  2. Wait for your initial sync to finish. (PLEASE NOTE: This step is crucial!)
  3. Install 1Password and launch it.
  4. The setup guide will ask whether it should create a new data file or use an existing data file. Choose "use an existing data file," and 1Password should automatically find your data file in Dropbox and begin using it.

Since the data file is monitored by Dropbox, any change you make to your data file will be automatically synchronized to all your other Macs. 1Password and its browser extensions will detect these changes and automatically reload the data file, allowing completely automatic and seamless syncing.

Windows Instructions

If you have not yet set up a Dropbox account, please see the top of this document.

Step 1: Set up Dropbox with 1Password on your first PC

  1. Launch 1Password.
  2. Click on the Preferences tool.
  3. On the General tab, click the Move to Dropbox button.

Video of Dropbox and 1Password in Action

Don McAllister of ScreenCastsOnline created a great video of using Dropbox to sync 1Password data.
Please note that this video was made for 1Password 2 and some of the options are different in 1Password 3, specifically the new 'Move to Dropbox' option:

This section was part of a members-only video about using Dropbox, but Don was kind enough to extract the 1Password portion of the video and make it available to everyone.

The high resolution version of the video can be found on our web site.

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