Wrangling your web passwords can be easy and secure, thanks to 1Password, the popular password manager from AgileBits. In this book, Joe Kissell brings years of real-world 1Password experience into play to explain not only how to create, edit, and enter web login data easily, but also how to autofill contact and credit card info when shopping online, audit your passwords and generate better ones, handle two-factor authentication (2FA), sync data across devices using a hosted 1Password account (individual, family, or business), and securely share passwords with family members, coworkers, and friends.
This fully revised seventh edition covers 1Password version 8 for Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone/iPad, Android, and Apple Watch. It does not include instructions for using earlier versions of 1Password.
Topics include:
Meet 1Password: Set your master password, explore the various 1Password components, and decide on your ideal usage strategy.
Master logins: In 1Password, a typical login contains a set of credentials used to sign in to a website. Find out how to create logins, sort them, search them, tag them, and more. You’ll also find help with editing logins—for example, changing a password or adding further details.
Understand password security: Get guidance on what makes for a good password, and read Joe’s important Password Dos and Don’ts. A special topic covers how to perform a security audit in order to improve poor passwords quickly.
Go beyond web logins: A primary point of 1Password is to speed up web logins, but 1Password can also store and autofill contact information (for more than one identity, even), along with credit card information. You’ll also find advice on storing SSH keys, passwords for password-protected files and encrypted disk images, confidential files, software licenses, scans of important cards or documents, and more.
Sync your passwords: Discover how 1Password can sync all your data securely across your devices.
Share your passwords: Learn to store passwords within a family or team hosted account, or even with people who don’t already use 1Password at all.
You’ll also discover the answers to key questions, including:
- Should I keep using my web browser’s autofill feature?
- What about iCloud Keychain and Apple’s Passwords app? Should I use those too?
- Do I need the full 1Password app, or is the browser extension enough?
- How does the Universal Autofill feature for Mac work across browsers and apps?
- What are passkeys, and what can 1Password do with them?
- How can 1Password help me with sites where I sign in with my Apple, Google, or Facebook account?
- What’s the easy way to prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands at a border crossing?
- What can I do quickly to get better password security?
- How can I find and update weak passwords I created long ago?
- What should I do about security questions, like the name of my pet?
- How can 1Password provide a time-based one-time password (TOTP)?
Joe Kissell is the author of more than 75 books about technology. In 2017, he also became the publisher of Take Control Books, when alt concepts—the company he runs with his wife, Morgen Jahnke—acquired the Take Control imprint from TidBITS Publishing Inc.’s owners, Adam and Tonya Engst. Before he began writing full-time in 2003, Joe managed software development, a totally normal profession for someone with degrees in philosophy and linguistics.
In his rare non-work hours, Joe likes to walk, cook, read, and teach tai chi. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, with Morgen and their sons. You can follow him on Mastodon (@joekissell) or Bluesky (@joekissell.com), or visit his personal website, JoeKissell.com.
What’s New in the Seventh Edition
1Password is rapidly evolving, with new features and user interface updates appearing regularly. As a result, version 7.0 of this book is a gigantic revision, with many hundreds of changes. The most significant are:
- Shortened the topic “Learn About 1Password 8” from nine pages to one, since 1Password 7 is now in the distant past
- Overhauled the entire “Meet 1Password” chapter to reflect the current state of the app and browser extensions
- Updated instructions throughout the book for working with 1Password in Your Browser, whose interface has changed quite a bit
- Rewrote “A Word About Autosubmit,” now that 1Password follows a new approach
- Updated “Use Passkeys in 1Password” to talk about additional setup steps and details, including a new sidebar “About Importing and Exporting Passkeys”
- Updated “Set Up a One-Time Password Generator” with current details
- Added information about additional sidebar entries to “Understand the Sidebar Sections”
- Explained the use of locations in 1Password items; see “Add a Location and The Home Screen”
- Updated “Import” to include numerous additional details
- Thoroughly revised the entire “Customize 1Password” chapter, as a huge number of settings are either new or different; this includes a new topic, “Set Up a Recovery Code”
- Updated “Configure 1Password for iPhone/iPad” with new instructions
Posted by Joe Kissell on February 28, 2023
Joe Kissell joined host Chuck Joiner on MacVoices to talk about Take Control of 1Password, Sixth Edition.
In part one, Joe talks about why changes in 1Password 8, such as the move to Electron and the subscription requirement, weren’t the catastrophe some people would have you believe.
In part two, Joe covers a number of the other new features in 1Password 8.
Posted by Joe Kissell on August 8, 2021
Once again, Joe Kissell joined Chuck Joiner on MacVoices to discuss passwords in the context of his recently updated books Take Control of Your Passwords version 3.2 and Take Control of 1Password, Fifth Edition.
In part one, Joe talks about passwords generally, including changes that may affect your overall password strategy.
In part two, Joe covers some of the new features in 1Password.
Posted by Michael E. Cohen on January 19, 2016
1Password is new and improved in version 6, giving Joe and Chuck Joiner (of MacVoices) a perfect opportunity to tell you what’s new and improved not only in the app but also in Joe’s Second Edition of his book, which covers it. Best of all, you don’t need a password to watch the interview!
Posted by Adam Engst on April 15, 2014
For anyone who is wondering, neither the Take Control Web site nor the eSellerate ecommerce site that we use for purchases were ever vulnerable to the Heartbleed bug, so you don’t need to worry about the security of your Take Control transactions or account information. There’s no reason to change your Take Control password either, although it’s always a good idea to do that if your current password is weak.
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