Keep vault on USB stick and not sync it

Ask the Community Password Manager
1

I did not find an answer to my question in the Bitwarden Help Center.
I want to keep my login data locally on a USB stick and not sync it with the cloud or anywhere. I am not technically experienced to make a self-server. Can I still use BitWarden free?

2

Go to the Download page, click on the link more desktop installation options, then select Portable App for Flash Drives (or just download directly from here).

However, the way Bitwarden works, you are still required to store your vault on their cloud server (or on your locally hosted server). With the portable app, you would sync once to get a copy of the vault on your flash drive, after which you can use the portable vault off-line in read-only mode.

If it is important to you to completely avoid cloud storage, and be able to both read and modify a locally stored vault, then you should probably look into one of the flavors of KeePass as a solution.

3

Thanks. I will check out the KeePass app. I read somewhere is that it is not as user-friendly as most password managers.

4

As USB sticks like to die without a warning make sure to have your data not only on a single USB stick. Also: Make regular backups. I personally would use at least 3 devices; preferably different models and/or from different manufacturers.

5

I agree with the notion that USB’s die without notice. Learned that lesson once years ago. Good advice above.

6

Yes this is exactly right. The memory in a USB stick (or SSD drive/SD card) is only good for a certain number of writes. While this sounds bad, it’s usually a very high number.
To counteract this issue, most systems operate a ‘wear levelling’ policy. So, for example, if you write a file to an empty disk, then delete it, then write it again, it won’t be written to the same place on the disk, so levelling out the wear over the drive.

That’s the long answer, but the short one is that they all naturally wear out. Hard drives don’t wear out in the same way, but they do fail mechanically so you can’t trust any single device and a backup or two is always a good option.
And while I’m on a roll… Offsite backup is also a very good option. If the data on the USB stick is secure, popping a copy of the stick in the glove box of your car, or in your shed is a good idea. Then if your house burns down, you can still access your data. OK lecture over, I guess you get it :slight_smile:

Cheers

Steve