Do you back up LastPass? Prepare for the worst!

We cannot manage without a password manager because of the number passwords and their complexity. What would happen if you lost access to it? Could you cope? Prepare for disaster with backups.

The LastPass online password storage service went down one day for several hours and many people were unable to access it. This in turn meant that they could not access websites and online services because the passwords were unavailable. It was a disaster for many people, but not for everyone because some had prepared and had backups.

Thankfully the LastPass service was eventually restored, but what if it wasn’t? What if it was only temporary, but you desperately needed to access a site or service, such as your online bank to pay a bill? It is possible that you could have been charged a late payment fee, all because LastPass went down.

It is worth remembering that when data is stored in just one location that it is vulnerable. One failure can be a disaster and this is why we have backups. Those people that back up their passwords and other login details were probably only slightly inconvenienced by the loss of the LastPass service.

Do you back up LastPass? How do you back it up?

1 Open LastPass vault

Click the LastPass toolbar button and LastPass displays a menu. Click Open my Vault on the menu because the backup feature we need is in the vault.

2 Show More Options in LastPass

The Vault is displayed and menu options are in the sidebar. Go right to the bottom of the sidebar and click More Options.

3 Export LastPass passwords

A panel opens up containing many options and the one we want is Export. Click it.

4 Copy the LastPass vault

You will be prompted to enter your password, even though you are already logged in. This is just a security precaution.

Now the whole of your LastPass account is displayed as a comma separated data. Basically, each site you log into is on one line, with a comma in between each username, password, URL, and and other items stored with it. (Of course, it’s not actually blurred like this, I obviously don’t want the whole world reading my passwords!)

Press Ctrl+A to select all the text and then press Ctrl+C to copy it to the clipboard. What now?

5 Save lastPass data in KeePass

You should not leave the file on the computer’s clipboard or disk drive where anyone could access it and it must be hidden. One option is to store it in another password manager, such as Keepass. I prefer portable apps that don’t need installing, so grab that and unzip it and run it.

1. Create a new database in KeePass by clicking the first icon in the toolbar.
2. Choose a location on disk to save it and give the database a name, such as Passwords.
3. Name the KeyPass database.
4. The default options are fine and the database is securely encrypted so no-one can access it without the password.

When the KeePass database is up and running, which takes only a few seconds, click the fourth icon in the toolbar, Add Entry.

1. Set the title to LastPass
2. Set the username and password to your LastPass login details
3. Click in the Notes box and press Ctrl+V to paste in the LastPass info you copied earlier.

The format of the copied data, CSV, is ugly, but just about readable if you ever need to use it.

Since Keepass databases are encrypted, you can store them in the Dropbox folder, Google Drive folder or OneDrive folder on your PC. It will then be backed up online and accessible from your other computers or even your phone - there is a KeePass app for phones.

You could use some other secure storage for the Lastpass backup and another password manager could be used. Just make sure whatever you use is secure.