I lost my password, how do I recover my data?

There are two passwords that could be lost:

1. The Master Password. The Master Password is related to the app itself, it is an optional added security layer that requires a password before being able to open pwSafe. This is an iOS-only feature, if you are using pwSafe for macOS, you can ignore this.
2. The password protecting your safe. Every safe has its own password, you are prompted for the password when you try to open the safe.

Master Password (iOS only)

This password is independent from your safe or safes, you can turn it on or off through pwSafe's settings and you can also set Face ID to it (again, independently from your safes).

To reset the Master Password you have to uninstall and reinstall the app. You will still need your safe password to access your protected data.

Before deleting pwSafe, please perform the correct procedure to make sure you don't loose any data in the process:

• If your safe is local, copy it to your computer using iTunes file sharing
• If your safe is in Dropbox or iCloud, it is already backed up to the correct cloud-storage service, you don't need to do anything before removing pwSafe.

After you reinstall pwSafe,

• If your safe is local, copy it back to your device using iTunes again.
• If your safe is in Dropbox, re-enable Dropbox (tap Restore purchase) and then link to it (tap + and "Link to safe in Dropbox").
• If your safe is in iCloud, it will appear automatically briefly after you launch pwSafe.

The password protecting your safe

It is impossible to reset the safe password. The password is used as a cryptographic key to encrypt your data. That means that we couldn't recover your password or data even if we wanted or were coerced to do it.

The only way to recover your password is to try every possible combination of numbers, letters and symbols (brute-force), or try passwords listed in databases of commonly used passwords (dictionary-attack).

Recovering the password

If it is important that you regain access to your safe, we can try to recover your password using the brute-force and dictionary-attacks described above, basically cracking your safe. This is a paid service as it takes a considerable amount of resources to perform these operations. Note that there is no guarantee that we can recover the password, as it depends on how complicated the password is.

If you are interested in this service, please open a support request.

Needless to say: the best way to recover the password is to think really hard what it was. Many cases have been resolved that way.