How do I get my vault onto a second device?
Sync & devices · Help center · Current as of 2026-10-10
Short answer
Sign in to the same sync account on the new device. KeyNesta sees that the account already holds a vault and asks for the vault passphrase you chose on the first device; enter it and the vault downloads and decrypts locally. Sync carries the codes and the whole structure of spaces, groups and tags, so the second device looks like the first.
Step by step
- On the new device, open KeyNesta and sign in with the same account — email and password, or Google or Apple if that is how you set it up.
- When it asks for the vault passphrase, give it the one from your first device. This is the step that does the decrypting, and it is why the server being unable to help you here is the point rather than a limitation.
- Name the vault on this device if you want it called something different locally, and finish. The name is per-device; the contents are shared.
"That passphrase does not match this account"
You have typed the account password instead of the vault passphrase, or the passphrase for a different vault. They are separate secrets. Nothing is damaged by a wrong attempt — try again, or check on a device that still has the vault open.
If you would rather not use sync at all
An encrypted backup file moves a vault between devices without an account existing at all. It is a snapshot rather than a live copy, so the two devices will drift apart as you add codes, but for a one-off move — an old laptop to a new one — it is the simpler route.
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