1Password Emergency Kit: what it is and where to store it
What the 1Password Emergency Kit prints, whether to write your account password on it, where to store it, and what to do if you lose it or regenerate your key.
The 1Password Emergency Kit is a PDF document with your account details and a place to write your 1Password account password, kept for the day you cannot sign in the normal way. It prints five things — sign-in address, account email, Secret Key, a blank line for your account password, and a Setup Code QR — and only the blank line is yours to fill in. That single line, plus where the page ends up, is the entire decision the kit asks of you: the four printed fields cannot open a vault on their own.
What is printed on the 1Password Emergency Kit?#
1Password lists five items. They do not carry equal weight, and that difference is the part most guides skip.
| Line on the kit | What it is | Does it get someone in on its own? |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-in address | The web address for your 1Password account — for most accounts, my.1password.com | No |
| Email address | The email address you used to create your account | No |
| Secret Key | A unique code which protects your data | No — it is not a backup code and doesn't let you sign in if you forget your account password |
| Account password | A place to write your 1Password account password | Only if you wrote it in |
| Setup Code | A QR code you can use to sign in on a new device without entering your sign-in address, email address, or Secret Key | No — it replaces three printed fields, not the account password, which is the one password you must remember and enter to unlock 1Password |
So four of the five lines are a convenience: they save you memorising a 34-character key and a URL. The fifth line is the only thing on the page that turns paper into a working key.
1Password's own preparation tips go further than most people expect: write your 1Password account password in at least one printed copy. And if you use two-factor authentication, the same page tells you to also write down the 16-character secret next to the QR code, in case the authenticator app goes with the phone.
How do you download and print the Emergency Kit?#
1Password hands you the kit during signup, and most people click past it. That is recoverable, because you can save another copy any time you are still signed in: sign in on 1Password.com, select your name in the top right, then Manage Account, then Save Emergency Kit.
Before generating a new one, check whether you already have it — look in your Downloads folder for a PDF file named "1Password Emergency Kit". Printing is then the browser's own print dialog on that PDF; there is no separate print flow inside 1Password.
The rule underneath all of this: re-downloading requires being signed in. Every copy you will ever hold has to be made while things still work.
Where should you store the Emergency Kit?#
1Password names eight places across its support page and its April 2022 storage guide. Each buys something and costs something, and every caveat below is 1Password's own.
| Storage option | Why it works | The trade-off 1Password names |
|---|---|---|
| Fire-resistant home safe | Survives the physical accidents paper does not | Be sure to keep the key or combination in a safe, private place — otherwise you have moved the problem, not solved it |
| Locked drawer | Simplest physical control | The key has to be always on you or the person who you want to have emergency access |
| Bank safety deposit box | Off-site, and survives a house fire | These boxes do present an added risk of tampering or theft; 1Password suggests you leave an extra key in your will so the box can actually be opened |
| Attached to your will | Reaches the right person through a process that already exists | Only works with your preferred recipient or recipients clearly indicated |
| Given to a trusted person | Someone can act while you are unreachable | Include instructions on when and how to use it, and make sure they know to keep it protected themselves, and not out in the open |
| Encrypted USB drive | Portable, no readable paper lying around | 1Password suggests keeping a second drive as a backup, since one can break or be lost |
| Personal cloud storage | Reachable from a replacement device | Cloud storage does have the added risk of a potential cyber attack |
| Password-protected folder on your computer | No third party involved | It needs a password you can remember outside of 1Password |
Two copies in different categories — one paper, one digital — cover the two failure modes that actually happen: the house and the hard drive. 1Password also asks you to plan out some routine checks, for corrupted files and wear and tear on a paper copy.
Should you write your account password on it?#
1Password says yes for at least one printed copy — and is equally direct about the cost: writing it in is an added vulnerability if someone gets hold of the document. Its suggested middle path is to fill the password in only on copies kept in secure locations, or to cut off the part with your account password and keep it in your wallet or somewhere else.
A workable split, then: the copy in the safe or with your will carries the password, because it already sits behind a physical lock; the copy in cloud storage or on a USB drive does not.
Can you store the Emergency Kit inside 1Password?#
You can, and it will be useless in the exact situation it exists for. The kit is what lets you reach your account if you can't sign in — if the only copy sits in the vault you cannot open, you have locked the spare key inside the car. The same logic is why 1Password specifies that a password-protected folder needs a password you can remember outside of 1Password.
Every copy has to be reachable without the account.
Emergency Kit, Secret Key, or recovery code — which one gets you back in?#
These three get treated as interchangeable. Only one of them is a way back in.
| What it is | What it does on its own | Can you get it after you are locked out? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency Kit | A PDF with your account details and a place to write your account password | Nothing, unless you wrote the password in | No — you must be signed in to save a copy on 1Password.com |
| Secret Key | A code that protects your data, entered the first time you sign in on a new device | Nothing — it is not a backup code | No — 1Password has no copy of it and no way to recover or reset it for you |
| Recovery code | A unique and secure code that can help you regain access if you forget your account password or lose your Emergency Kit with your Secret Key | Gets you back in, after email verification | No — you won't be able to create a recovery code after you've lost access, so this needs to be done proactively |
| Account password | The one you memorise; it is never transmitted from your devices | Everything, combined with the Secret Key | Never — 1Password does not hold it |
The Secret Key is 34 letters and numbers, separated by dashes. It contributes 128 bits of entropy, making it infeasible to guess no matter how much money or computing power an attacker has available — set against the roughly 40 bits of entropy of an average account password, that gap is the whole point of the key existing. Only the first eight characters are known to 1Password, and they are bookkeeping, not secret: the first two are the version number and the following six are the identifier, for example A3-ABC123, used to aid troubleshooting.
Copies of the key live in the apps and browsers you have signed in to, in encrypted device backups and keychains, and in your Emergency Kit — the kit being the only one you can read with your eyes. If you inherited an older printout, note that the Secret Key was called the "Account Key" in previous versions and may still be labeled that way; they are the same thing.
Which leads to the sentence 1Password does not soften: no one can access your 1Password data without your Secret Key. That includes you.
What happens if you lose your Emergency Kit?#
It depends entirely on whether you can still sign in.
Still signed in somewhere. Save a fresh copy: 1Password.com, your name, Manage Account, Save Emergency Kit. Nothing is lost; you reprint and re-store.
Already locked out. The documented routes back are a recovery code on 1Password.com, asking a family organizer or team administrator to recover your account, another device where your password still works, the password field of your Emergency Kit if you filled it in, or biometric unlock on a device where it is enabled. Treat biometrics as a countdown rather than a solution — 1Password warns that your ability to unlock the app with biometric unlock will eventually expire, so the window is for retrieving your password or exporting your data, not for living in.
If none of those apply, the loss is real. The account password is never transmitted over the internet, never logged locally, never known to us at 1Password — which keeps intruders out and keeps 1Password from resetting it for you. Recovery codes only arrived on June 20, 2024; before that, 1Password wrote, if Family Organizers and customers using 1Password Individual forgot their password or lost their Secret Key, even with 1Password Support, they wouldn't be able to regain access to their data.
How do you set up a recovery code, and why wait an hour?#
On the web: 1Password.com, your name, Manage Account, Set up recovery code. In the apps: select your account at the top of the sidebar, then Manage Accounts, your account, Sign-in & Recovery, Set up recovery code. Note the eligibility line — generating and using recovery codes on 1Password.com is limited to individual and family accounts, so team and business members go through an administrator instead.
Two details catch people out:
- Wait an hour. 1Password's instruction is explicit: don't use your recovery code immediately after you've created it. Wait at least one hour. Attempt recovery too soon after a sign-in and your code will be unusable for 24 hours — a bad discovery to make on the day you need it.
- You need the inbox. You'll need access to the email address associated with your 1Password account to verify it's you. A recovery code stored beside a mailbox you cannot open is half a plan.
The code itself is reusable. But recovery resets the furniture: you receive a new Secret Key, create a new account password, and download a new Emergency Kit, then sign in again on all your devices. Two-factor authentication, if it was on, stays on.
Three quieter conditions deactivate a code before you reach for it. If you use a passkey to unlock 1Password, you must always have a recovery code. Upgrading an individual or family account to a team or business account deactivates it. And if your family organizer initiates a recovery for your account, your recovery code is deactivated — generate a fresh one afterwards.
Does regenerating your Secret Key invalidate the old kit?#
Yes, and this is the consequence people miss. You can regenerate while signed in from 1Password.com, your name, Manage Account, Regenerate Secret Key, and the flow then tells you to download your new Emergency Kit and store it safely.
Every kit you already stored is now out of date. The safe, the will, the USB drive, the copy you handed to someone: all of them print a Secret Key that no longer opens anything. Afterwards, 1Password asks for your new Secret Key and your account password on each device you're signed in to.
If a device is merely lost rather than compromised, you can deauthorize it from Manage Account in the same flow — and you don't need to change your account password if you lose a device, unless you have specific reason to believe that someone else knows it.
The account password remains the one thing nobody can regenerate, including 1Password.
Who cannot save an Emergency Kit?#
Two groups, and neither is a bug to troubleshoot. If your administrator turned off Emergency Kits for your organization or if you unlock 1Password with SSO, you won't be able to save one. The Secret Key page is blunter: if you unlock 1Password with SSO, you won't have an Emergency Kit. If Save Emergency Kit is missing from Manage Account, one of those two is the reason — and if you are in that position, your continuity plan has to name the administrator who can recover you instead.
How does the kit fit into a handoff plan?#
For a family account, 1Password's recovery plan has four parts: add another family organizer, save your Emergency Kit, generate a recovery code, and tell your family. The second organizer matters more than it sounds, because you can't recover your own account, so make sure you make at least one other person a family organizer.
"Tell your family" is narrower than it reads. 1Password means let your family know who the other family organizers are, so they can help them recover their accounts if they can't sign in — telling someone where the kit itself is stored is your addition, and a sensible one.
An organizer starts recovery from 1Password.com under People, the person's name, then Begin Recovery; afterwards that member needs to save a new Emergency Kit and sign back in on all their devices, and their two-factor authentication is reset.
The kit is the layer under all of that, for the case organizer recovery cannot cover: if everyone in your family who can help recover accounts gets locked out at the same time, you'll need your Emergency Kits to sign in. In its estate-planning guidance, 1Password's advice is to print the kit and store it with your will, with instructions for your executor, only to be used when needed — calling that the only occasion to write your account password down.
Worth knowing before you build around it: 1Password has no legacy contact feature, which is why the kit and family recovery carry the whole load.
A kit in a safe answers where the key is. It does not answer when someone should go and get it, or which client, domain, and invoice depends on it. That is the gap Proceedly's check-in and handoff plan covers: a regular check-in where missing it past a grace window prompts a person you name to confirm — or, on a paid plan, releases automatically — before your encrypted handoff plan reaches the people who depend on you. It holds your instructions and says where the keys live. The passwords stay in 1Password, where they belong.
What does the one-time setup look like?#
- Save the Emergency Kit from 1Password.com, your name, Manage Account, Save Emergency Kit — or find the existing PDF in your Downloads folder.
- Decide the password line deliberately. 1Password says to write it in on at least one printed copy while warning it is an added vulnerability if someone gets hold of the document — so fill it in on the copy behind a lock, leave it blank on the digital one.
- If you use two-factor authentication, write down the 16-character secret next to the QR code as well.
- Store two copies in different categories — one paper, one digital — and none of them inside 1Password.
- Generate a recovery code today, because you won't be able to create one after you've lost access, and leave it at least an hour before any test.
- On a family plan, make at least one other person a family organizer and let your family know who the organizers are.
- Tell one person the kit exists and where it is, and leave instructions on when and how to use it.
- Diary a re-check for corrupted files and wear and tear on a paper copy — and if you ever regenerate your Secret Key, replace every stored copy.
FAQ#
Can I get another copy of my Emergency Kit? Yes, while you are still signed in. On 1Password.com, select your name in the top right, then Manage Account, then Save Emergency Kit. Once you are locked out, that route is closed.
Where does the Emergency Kit PDF download to? Wherever your browser saves files. 1Password's Secret Key page is specific about what to look for: a PDF file named "1Password Emergency Kit" in your Downloads folder.
Is the Secret Key a recovery code? No. Your Secret Key is not a backup code. It doesn't let you sign in if you forget your 1Password account password. A recovery code is the separate thing that does that: a unique and secure code that can help you regain access if you forget your account password or lose your Emergency Kit with your Secret Key.
If someone finds my Emergency Kit, can they open my vault? Not from the printed fields alone — the account-password line is a place to write your password, and the Secret Key doesn't let anyone sign in without that password. Write the password in, which 1Password recommends for at least one printed copy, and the calculation changes: it becomes an added vulnerability if someone gets hold of the document.
Why is there no Save Emergency Kit option in my account? Because your administrator turned off Emergency Kits for your organization, or you unlock 1Password with SSO. Both are by design.
Does regenerating my Secret Key invalidate the kit in my safe? Yes. The flow instructs you to download your new Emergency Kit and store it safely, and afterwards 1Password asks for your new Secret Key and your account password on each device you're signed in to. Any older printout is stale paper.
I just created a recovery code — can I use it now? No. Wait at least one hour. Try sooner and your code will be unusable for 24 hours.
If I lose everything, can 1Password restore my data? No. We don't have a copy of your Secret Key or any way to recover or reset it for you, and the account password is never known to us at 1Password. As the Secret Key page puts it: no one can access your 1Password data without your Secret Key. That includes you.
Sources#
- 1Password support: Get to know your Emergency Kit — the definition, the five printed items, saving another copy, the preparation tips, and the SSO and organization limits.
- 1Password support: Find your Secret Key or Setup Code — what the key does, why it is not a backup code, and the "1Password Emergency Kit" PDF file name in Downloads.
- 1Password support: About your Secret Key — the 34-character format, 128 bits of entropy against roughly 40 for an account password, the eight known leading characters, where copies live, and the former "Account Key" name.
- 1Password blog: Where to store your 1Password Emergency Kit (April 29, 2022) — safe, locked drawer, safety deposit box, will, trusted person, USB, cloud and local-folder trade-offs, plus the written-in-password risk and routine checks.
- 1Password support: Generate and use recovery codes — eligibility, setup paths, the one-hour wait and 24-hour lockout, email verification, reusability, and what deactivates a code.
- 1Password blog: Introducing recovery codes (June 20, 2024) — why the code must be created in advance, and what was impossible before.
- 1Password support: 1Password glossary — Setup Code, sign-in address, account password and recovery code definitions.
- 1Password support: If you forgot your account password — the documented routes back in, the expiring biometric window, and why there is no reset.
- 1Password support: If your device was lost or stolen — regenerating the Secret Key, deauthorizing a device, and the new-kit requirement.
- 1Password support: Recover accounts for family or team members — organizer- and admin-led recovery and its after-effects.
- 1Password support: Implement a recovery plan for your family — the four-part plan, what "tell your family" means, and why an organizer cannot recover their own account.
- 1Password blog: The complete guide to digital estate planning — storing the printed kit with your will and instructions for your executor.