Section 6: Vaults

Understanding Vaults

A crucial concept within the 1Password app is the Vault. A Vault is a container for all the Items which record credentials and secret information. You're account can have access to multiple vaults at a time, even one's owned or shared by another account. This allows for collaboration between team members or more responsive action for IT support.

In addition, there are a few categories of vaults you should be aware of. It's important to understand not so you can create vaults — that will be handled by IT — but rather so you are aware of which vault a new item is stored in to avoid complications in the future.

Private Vault (not used)

This vault is only accessible to your account. Our recommendation/requirement is to leave this vault empty and never use it. All your regularly used passwords should be in a vault with your name on it - your "named vault." This is shared with IT for maintenance/troubleshooting. The Private vault cannot be deleted or renamed or even disabled. Until the option to hide or disable it is added to 1Password, we must pretend that it's not even there.

Your Named Vault

As the name implies, this vault is assigned to your account and is named with your name. This will be the primary repository for all items containing passwords and other account credentials that you use. Please save login information relevant only to you in the vault with your full name. Examples are your macOS login, Casebase account, Google account, Microsoft account, etc.

Shared Vaults

All vaults other than the Private Vault can be shared with other accounts, such as other company employees. In a team environment, allowing access to the correct accounts is critical. Many shared vaults exist and access is generally provided based on teams or roles. Who has access to which vault is completely customizable — which makes it a versatile tool.