Got a new phone. Transferred all the apps etc but the saved passwords within BitWarden didn’t transfer - understandably. So, I set up BitWarden some years ago and yes, you’ve probably guessed by now, even though I have a hint of my master password, it isn’t being recognised on my new phone. I am still able to login on my old phone thankfully.
Is there a way of copying all info within the old vault and transferring over to my new phone? I think I’ll have to set up a new BW account but I’m OK with that. I suppose I could screenshot each set of info but that would take some time manually and has the possibility of me making an error when manually re-entering on my new phone. I’m hoping that there is some form of automation that I can take advantage of.
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to clearly explain my predicament.
You can export a copy of your vault from your old account and import it into a new one. However, it would be better if you were just able to log into your existing account on the new phone. What’s the problem? It isn’t accepting the master password you’re entering? How are you logging in on your old phone?
Hello Dan. Thanks for yr advice and further query. On my old phone, I must have setup some short form of signing in and only have to use a six figure PIN. It doesn’t require me to insert my email address or master password at all.
Ref the exporting of a copy of my vault from my old account (on my old phone) and importing into new account. Would you advise I set up the new account on my old phone for ease and then further copy the info to the new phone afterwards. Do I email it to myself and quickly delete once I have it safely downloaded? What is the process for exporting a copy and importing into a new account please? Sorry for what may seem such basic queries but my IT literacy is a bit on the light side.
The thing is: To be able to export your data you will have to enter your password. So that will not work if you do not know your password.
My recommendation would be to keep on using both phones for now. Whenever you need something from inside the old Bitwarden account, then add it to the new Bitwarden account on your new phone. After that is done use the data from inside the new Bitwarden account where ever you want to login. This way you can be sure that the data in your new account is correct.
For the future:
Write down your master password and store it in a secure place you will actually remember. Like in a safe at home or a safe deposit box in your bank - if you have one - or perhaps with your vaccination card.
Also: Type in your master password every once in a while. The perfect moment for this is when from now on you make regular backups:
Thanks Peter. I was afraid of that. I see that on my old phone, I can make ‘copies’ of each entry in my vault. I know it’s a long way around but could I do that, attach to an email and then forward to myself, deleting the email afterwards of course?
How would I take the copy I have made and import it into a new account from an email? Is it even possible? I also see I can ‘clone’ but honestly, I don’t know what that actually means. I would have thought copy per above but is it something different? I’ll also take your good advice ref writing down the master and also backing up. Thanks for these pointers and any additional assistance.
I just wanted to add a suggestion here as you mentioned,
While it may take a few additional steps, it may be beneficial to attach the login information for your vault in a Bitwarden send.
You can then send this link to yourself via email, or any other form of communication you prefer.
The benefit here is that the information is not simply stored in plain text, such as when you send something via email. While it may be sent encrypted to your email provider, typically the email itself is fairly visible to your email service, and possibly in account history even after being deleted for some time.
You can read more about it here
As far as the clone, I believe this will only create a duplicate copy of the entry in your local Bitwarden vault in the old phone,
Wishing you the best, hope you are able to make out okay.
I would suggest doing the above with greater urgency (e.g., set a goal of transferring 10 items a day, until you are done). Forced logouts have happened in the past, and that would cause you to lose access to the old vault.
In addition, if you don’t use Bitwarden on your old phone for 30 days, it’s login session will expire, which causes a logout.
If your old phone is rooted, I would strongly recommend making a backup copy of the locally stored vault.
Thanks but how do I go about doing it practically Do I copy an entry, add it to my email and forward to myself? If so, how do I import or add it to the new account on my new phone? Or, are there other, simple methods which I can follow I’m stuck and don’t really know what to do or how to go about it.
There are no “simple methods”. There is only the annoying one (as you do not have your password anymore): You will have to do it manually. One by one. That is why I wrote that after transferring the credentials you should use them from your new phone.