iPhone only user. How to get passwords from iCloud to Bitwarden

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1

iPhone only user. How to get passwords from iCloud to Bitwarden?

2

Hey @loyl2, by ‘iPhone only user’ do you mean you don’t have access to Safari on desktop?

Q: Can I import to Bitwarden from iCloud/Mac Keychain/Safari?

A: As of Safari 15.0, you can export passwords from Safari in a .csv file. Once you do, condition your .csv to meet Bitwarden’s format and import your data.

3

I have invited a member to my Bitwarden Family Account who is an ‘iPhone only user’ meaning that she uses only an iPhone–no mac, no iPad, no PC.

Is there a path for her to get her keychain imported into Bitwarden using only her phone?

Thanks,
Phil

4

Hi, I don’t know the Apple ecosystem well enough, but I think the main question is how to export the data from iCloud KeyChain, so you might search for that primarily (if there is an export, it surely can be imported in Bitwarden)

I don’t know if Safari on iOS can export the KeyChain?

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(this screenshot: Import Data from macOS & Safari | Bitwarden Help Center → from this help site: Import Data from macOS & Safari | Bitwarden Help Center)

5

An internet search reveals that exporting the Keychain form iOS is not possible. The best work-around is to borrow a Mac, set up a temporary user profile, sign in and export your Keychain, then delete the temporary profile.

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The problem is that her passwords exist only on iPhone Keychain from which they are not exportable. Solutions require moving the passwords to an accessible place. Even finding a Mac does not help directly, as there is no direct synchronisation of Keychain between Mac and iPhone. There are only backup and iCloud sync. So, even with a Mac you still most likely need iCloud sync.
From that I propose the following as a possible route. I have not proven it so it will be a test or experiment on your part, noting that as a phone-only user she does not appear to have any backup so there is data risk.

  • Despite there being no other machine involved, turn on iCloud Keychain sync.
  • Using the iOS Safari browser, log in to iCloud.
  • Export all passwords to a file on an attached USB so a Mac or PC can be used to condition the data into Bitwarden format (or conceivably load the data in Numbers on iOS for the purpose).
  • Log in to Bitwarden (vault or iOS app) and import the conditioned file.

Repeating that I am offering a design idea, not a tested procedure.

Edit to add: I will leave this here for now, though I am a little doubtful of its success. It may be worth a try. The idea was to bypass creating a new user / profile on a separate Mac.