New Backup Option Allows for Flexible Encrypted Vault Exports

With the October 2022 release, Bitwarden is pleased to announce additional options for backing up your Bitwarden vault! This update is available in the web vault and makes it easier to export, access, and import encrypted backups of your passwords and sensitive information.

Previously, the encrypted export function created a file that was encrypted with an account’s encryption key — derived from the account’s username and master password and unique to the specific account (more on encryption can be found here). Now, users have the additional option of using a password of their choosing for backup encryption. This gives users more flexibility when backing up their vault, and provides the option to not tie their backup to the account’s encryption key. 

A few reasons to password protect your vault export:

• If a Bitwarden account is deleted or no longer accessible, users can still decrypt their vault export with the designated password.

• Users can rotate their account decryption key and maintain access to their encrypted vault export.

• Users can import their encrypted vault export into another Bitwarden account.

There are a few reasons why a user might want to import an encrypted export into another Bitwarden account:

• If a user has lost access to their original Bitwarden account and would like to import data into a new one.

• If a user wants to import data to a personal account from an account under another plan (for example, a Teams plan from where they no longer work) without downloading a plaintext file. 

Ultimately, what Bitwarden users do with their sensitive data is their business! This functionality is intended to provide individuals, teams, and enterprises with more flexibility in how that data is handled.

Other helpful articles and guides about backing up your vault:

• Guide: How to Create and Store a Backup of Your Bitwarden Vault

• Community contribution: How To: A User's Guide to Backing Up Your Bitwarden Vault

• Help Center: Export Vault Data

• Help Center: Import & Export FAQs

• Blog: World Backup Day - Top tips to protect your passwords

See how Bitwarden can help you protect your data online. Join a weekly live demo or check out our pricing page to find the plan that’s right for you.