There are various approaches to creating vault backups. Here is one that I recommend:
At a regular frequency (weekly, monthly, biannually, etc., depending on how frequently you make changes to your vault contents), log in to the Web Vault (vault.bitwarden.com) and do the following:
- Click on Tools in the top menu bar.
- Click on Export Vault in the left-hand navigation menu.
- In the dropdown menu under File Format, select the option .json (Encrypted).
- You will now see two options for Format Type: select Password-Protected (it is very important that you don’t select Account-Restricted).
- Choose a strong password for the backup (use the Bitwarden Password Generator if you like), and enter it into the input fields File password and Confirm file password. If the scenario you are protecting yourself is data loss due to a forgotten Master Password, then you should obviously not use your Bitwarden Master Password as the backup password.
- Click Confirm Format.
- When prompted (in a window titled Confirm Vault Export), enter your Bitwarden Master Password (not your backup password).
- Click Export Vault button. You should see a green alert box in the upper right corner of your browser window, with the message “Vault data exported.”
- Go to your Downloads folder, and look for a file named something like
bitwarden_encrypted_export_20230612204532.json. Move this file to any location where you will be able to access it later. The file is encrypted, so you do not have to worry about hiding the file.
You can store a copy of the backup file password in your Bitwarden vault, to make it more convenient to create additional backups in the future. However, you still run the risk of forgetting the backup file password, just like there is always a risk of forgetting your Master Password. If you have forgotten both, then your scenario still leads to loss of all your data. For this reason, you should always make at least one Emergency Sheet, stored in a secure location, which contains the following information (at a minimum):
- Your Bitwarden email address.
- Your Bitwarden Master Password.
- The 2FA Recovery Code for your Bitwarden account.
- Password(s) to your vault backup file(s).