Passwords and encryption

Lock a workspace, a collection or a single entry behind a password, and encrypt what is stored.

Protection works in layers, and each is optional. A password is an extra gate on top of normal membership, for example against someone else on a device you left signed in. Encryption goes further: what is stored is ciphertext.

A password for a collection

Open the collection, Settings, and scroll to Password protection.
Type a password. Optionally set “re-lock after N minutes of inactivity” (blank: only when the tab closes).
To encrypt, tick the encryption option (see below) and press Set password. To remove protection later, use Remove protection.

Protection settings of a collection: password, auto-lock, encryption, title mode and search strategy.

A protected collection shows a padlock, and asks for its password before it opens. A wrong password is counted; after a few misses the person is asked to wait.

The gate in front of a protected collection.

Encryption

With encryption ticked, the values of the collection are stored as ciphertext under a key that only the password unlocks. You choose how the titles of entries are treated:

Mode	What a database administrator sees	Trade-off
Full zero-knowledge	Only ciphertext for titles.	Search and sorting happen in the session’s memory; slower with 10,000+ entries.
Order-preserving	Ciphertext plus a key that keeps the order.	Fast paging, but the order of titles leaks.
Plaintext titles	Titles in clear; values and attachments are encrypted.	Fastest, least private.

You also choose how encrypted collections are searched: an isolated encrypted index, or a search in the session’s memory, or no search at all.

Careful. Encryption protects a stolen database, a backup or a disk. It is not end-to-end: the server handles the key while a collection is unlocked. If the password is lost, the data cannot be recovered. Encrypted collections need a Pro or Enterprise key on the Server edition.

One entry, one workspace

The Lock item button on an entry protects that one entry with its own password, optionally encrypting the entry and its attached media. A workspace can be protected the same way from its settings. Auto-lock re-locks after the idle time you set.