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password managers guide

Export the Vault Before You Need the Export

Sam OkonkwoSam Okonkwo· Security Researcher· Updated May 1, 2024· 10 min read

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Quick take

Password managers can lock you to a vendor if you never export. Make an encrypted export on a schedule, store it offline, test a restore once. Bitwarden currently documents export formats. An unencrypted CSV in email is a second breach. GUIDEORA does not hold your file.

Subscriptions end. Marriages end. Laptops die.

The vault in the cloud is convenient until the account is the fight. An export you have never tried is a rumor.

People screenshot logins into a notes app. That is an export with worse hygiene. Do the real file, then lock it.

From the record

A backup of the keys is still keys. Email is not a safe.

GUIDEORA rule for vault export

How not to create a second dump

Prefer the vendor's encrypted export if it exists. If you must use CSV, encrypt the file yourself and delete the plaintext. Store offline. Do not sync the export to the same cloud you are leaving.

An encrypted vault export on a USB drive
A backup of secrets is still secrets. Treat the file like a key.

Export

A habit

CSV

A naked vault

Offline

Not email

Test restore

Once

  • Calendar a yearly export the same week as smoke-alarm batteries.
  • A printout in a safe is valid and ugly.
  • Work vaults may forbid export. That is a policy, not a suggestion.
  • Passkeys may not travel in the CSV. Know that before you leave.

Bitwarden as a portable example

Bitwarden currently offers export tools and is widely used as an escape hatch from other vaults. That portability is the point of mentioning it here. Confirm live formats — they change.

Attachments and TOTP seeds may need extra steps. Read the live export article.

Pros

  • +A tested export ends vendor panic
  • +You can leave a bad plan
  • +Bitwarden currently treats export as a normal control

Cons

  • −A bad export is a new leak
  • −Passkeys complicate 'one file'
  • −People will still email themselves a CSV

Make the file on a boring Saturday

Export encrypted. Store offline. Bitwarden is the portable example. GUIDEORA does not want the USB.

Editor take

Practice leaving

Export before the bad day. Encrypt the file. Bitwarden is the example. Confirm live formats.

See Bitwarden's current plan