1Password is a subscription password manager for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, with browser extensions for saving and filling account details. It stores passwords, passkeys, payment information and private notes in encrypted vaults, making the same saved information available across your devices. Its records connect a login to the website where it belongs, while separate sharing controls determine who else can use it.
How 1Password organizes items
A Login item holds the credentials for an account, but 1Password also has categories for information such as credit cards and secure notes. You can edit a record, add custom fields and keep related details together. This lets a login include information beyond its username and password rather than leaving those details in a separate note.
Every item belongs to a vault. Tags and Favorites provide additional ways to find frequently used records, and search can locate items, categories, accounts and vaults. Collections narrow the displayed items to a chosen group of vaults, including vaults from different 1Password accounts.
Website logins
After you enter credentials and sign in to a website, the browser extension offers to save the login. You can adjust its details and choose its destination vault. On a later visit, 1Password suggests the saved account at the sign-in page. When several accounts use the same website, you can choose another login; distinct item names and the full website address help identify the appropriate account.
The password generator can supply a password during registration or on a website’s password-change page. Its settings can be adjusted to the site’s requirements. Changing an existing password involves updating both the website account and its saved Login item: editing the record in 1Password alone does not change the password accepted by the website.
1Password also fills payment details and addresses in the browser. For desktop applications on Windows, Quick Access provides a searchable window from which you can copy a username or password and paste it into the application’s fields.
Passkeys
On websites that support passkeys, 1Password can save a newly created passkey in an existing Login item or create a separate item for it. At sign-in, you select the saved passkey instead of entering a password. Passkeys remain part of the vault’s organization, so they can be moved and shared alongside other account information.
A saved passkey and its registration on the website are separate. Removing the passkey from 1Password does not remove it from the website’s account settings. Passkey export also differs by platform: mobile apps support it, while desktop data exports do not include passkeys.
Authentication codes
1Password can act as an authenticator for websites that use one-time codes. After enabling two-factor authentication on a website, you scan its QR code or enter the supplied secret into a One-Time Password field in the Login item. 1Password then generates the changing codes and can fill them when the website requests them. The password and code are accessible from the same record.
Watchtower
Watchtower groups saved items according to issues that require attention. It identifies weak or reused passwords, passwords exposed in breaches and accounts on websites with reported breaches. It also points out saved accounts that support passkeys or two-factor authentication, along with expiring items and exact duplicates.
Selecting a category reveals the affected records. You can use those records to reach the relevant account and change its password or enable another sign-in method. If another app already supplies an account’s authentication codes, its two-factor alert can be ignored.
Family vaults and share links
1Password Families adds shared vaults and controls for managing family access. Items placed in a shared vault are available to its members, making it suitable for credentials the household continues to use together.
Individual items can also be shared through a link, including with someone who has no 1Password account. The sender chooses when the link expires and whether anyone with the link or only specified recipients can open it. Email-restricted recipients verify their address before viewing the item. This link contains a copy: subsequent edits to the original record require a new share link. Sharing history lets the sender delete an existing link.
Vault encryption
1Password encrypts account contents from end to end, combining the account password with a Secret Key to protect the data. The provider does not hold the information needed to read the vault contents. Local controls address access on an already configured device: you can lock the app, set automatic locking and configure clipboard clearing after copying secrets. On Windows, Windows Hello is an available unlock method.
