How To Use 1PasswordAnywhere (and what is it?)
Never leave home without your Agile Keychain, thanks to 1PasswordAnywhere. A new feature in 1Password 3, 1PasswordAnywhere lets you decrypt and view your Agile Keychain when you are away from your Mac. You can open your data file in a modern browser, enter your Master Password, view any type of data, and copy it to the clipboard for pasting elsewhere. If you use Windows at work, Linux on campus, or another Mac while at a friend’s house or on vacation, 1PasswordAnywhere lets you look up that one Login, Secure Note, or Credit Card you need, whenever you need it.
For 1PasswordAnywhere to work, you must have access to your Agile Keychain, either via the web, a copy on something like a USB flash drive, or a copy on the local computer. Dropbox, our favorite file syncing service, is a great option. Not only can you store and use your Agile Keychain in a Dropbox folder on your Mac, but any files you store in Dropbox—including your data file—are synchronized between your other computers, and even accessible from the Dropbox website via web browser. Because of this and other unique Dropbox features, 1PasswordAnywhere works very well if you store your Agile Keychain in your Dropbox account. 1PasswordAnywhere can work well in other scenarios, however, so we’ll try to cover some of the popular ones in this document.
Things To Know Before You Get Set Up
-
Your Agile Keychain, by default, is located in ~/Library/Application Support/1Password/, where ”~” equals your Home user library. If you want to move it to a recommended service like Dropbox, you can use the 1Password > Preferences > General window to move your data file. To move your Agile Keychain manually: quit 1Password, move your Agile Keychain file in the Finder, then double-click it to tell 1Password to use it from that new location
-
If you want to use 1PasswordAnywhere on something like a USB flash drive or MobileMe iDisk, you can only store a copy of your Agile Keychain on these external drives, you cannot keep it there as your main data file. This is due to reliability issues and Apple’s own recommendations
-
If you use 1Password 2 and have not yet upgraded to the Agile Keychain, now is the time. The Agile Keychain is the only format supported in 1Password 3, so it is the only way to use 1PasswordAnywhere. Follow this guide to switch to the Agile Keychain, and be sure to do it before upgrading to 1Password 3.
Use 1PasswordAnywhere with Dropbox on the Web
- To move your Agile Keychain to Dropbox, follow our Dropbox Syncing guide to get set up. This is a great way to prepare for 1PasswordAnywhere, but it is also our favorite method for synchronizing your Agile Keychain so you can use it across multiple Macs.
- Log into Dropbox’s website and find your 1Password.agilekeychain file, which will actually look like a folder. This is normal.
- Click into that folder and click the 1Password.html file inside
- Enter your Master Password and enjoy
Use 1PasswordAnywhere with MobileMe
It is possible for MobileMe users to access 1PasswordAnywhere from their iDisk, but note that, due to Apple’s iDisk specifications and recommendations, we cannot recommend using 1Password with your Agile Keychain permanently stored on an iDisk. You can, however, place a copy of your Agile Keychain on your iDisk in order to access 1PasswordAnywhere while at work or on vacation. To access 1PasswordAnywhere on another Mac in this way:
- Choose Go > iDisk > Other User’s iDisk… in the Finder (do not use “My iDisk” from that menu unless you want to add your MobileMe account to that Mac)
- Browse to the copy of your Agile Keychain, and drag a copy out to the desktop
- Right-click your Agile Keychain and choose “Show Package Contents”
- In the folder that appears, double-click the 1Password.html file to launch 1PasswordAnywhere and enter your Master Password to decrypt your information
When you’re finished with 1PasswordAnywhere, it is highly recommended that you trash the local copy of your Agile Keychain that you downloaded and empty the trash to protect your information. Using Finder > Secure Empty Trash adds an additional layer of security.
Use 1PasswordAnywhere on Windows
Whether you store your Agile Keychain on Dropbox or place a copy on a USB thumb drive for travel, you can use 1PasswordAnywhere in Windows with either Firefox or Safari.
- Find your 1Password.agilekeychain file, which will look like a folder to Windows. This is normal
- Open the 1Password.agilekeychain folder, then open the 1Password.html file in your default browser by either double-clicking it or using your browser’s File > Open option
- Enter your Master Password and enjoy