How to bring your accounts into Account:dir from a file, in a few minutes, without putting your secrets at risk.

Where to find it

Select "data" in the top menu and find "Import your data". The import controls appear there above "Export your data". Importing adds to your account, so it is available while your plan lets you make changes. If your plan has lapsed, the import control is not shown.

What you can import

You can import an Account:dir export, the Account:dir template, or a password export from another manager. The managers supported today are Chrome or Google Password Manager, Apple Passwords, Bitwarden, 1Password, LastPass and Dashlane. Account:dir recognises each of these by the columns in the file.

An Account:dir export is the file you download from "Export your data" on the same page. The Account:dir template is a small example file you can download, fill in with your own accounts, and import back. To download it, select "Download the Account:dir template". The template also has columns for the login page, sign-in method, two-step verification, phone number and the card's last four digits; leave any of them blank if you do not need them.

Account:dir reads comma-separated files, which end in .csv, and its own export, which ends in .json. If the file is not one it recognises, it tells you so and asks you to use the template or a supported password export instead.

Your file stays private

Account:dir reads the file inside your browser. The file is never uploaded to our servers. Every secret is encrypted in your browser before anything is saved, exactly as it is when you add a secret manually, so a readable password never leaves your computer. When a file contains secrets, your vault must be unlocked before the import can begin, and Account:dir asks you to unlock it first if it is locked. When the import finishes, or when you cancel it, the file and everything read from it are dropped from memory.

The preview

Before anything is saved, Account:dir shows a preview so you can check the import. It names the kind of file it recognised and how many rows it found. It then shows how many accounts, new emails, new providers, new projects, new tags and secrets the import would add, and marks each row as new, already in your account, or unable to be imported. A row that cannot become an account, because it has no provider or no way to identify the account, is listed with the reason. Nothing is saved until you select the import button to confirm.

When an account already exists

If an account in the file matches one you already have, you choose what happens. "Skip it and keep what you already have" leaves your existing account untouched and imports only the genuinely new accounts. This is the recommended choice, and it is selected for you. "Fill in only the empty fields and add any new tags and secrets" keeps everything you already have and only adds what is missing. "Import it anyway as a new account" adds a second account.

Accounts with a username but no email

Some password exports list a username that is not an email address. Every account in Account:dir needs an email address, so when the file has accounts like this, the preview asks you to choose the email address they use. You can pick one of your existing email addresses or type a new one. If these accounts use different email addresses, select "Leave these out for now": everything else is imported, and the accounts left out are listed in the rows that could not be imported, so you can add them afterwards with the right email address. The import button stays unavailable until you choose, so these accounts are never imported without an email address.

Importing again is safe

You can import the same file more than once. With the recommended "Skip" choice, Account:dir imports only what is missing and leaves everything you already have exactly as it is, so a second import of the same file adds nothing. If an import stops partway, for example because your connection drops, the accounts already saved stay saved, and importing the file again finishes the rest without creating duplicates.

Rows that could not be imported

If some rows could not be imported, the result tells you how many, and you can select "Download the rows that could not be imported". The file you receive lists only the row number and the reason for each one. It never contains any of your data or secrets. You can correct those rows in your original file and import it again; Account:dir will skip anything it already has.

Export your data

On the same page, "Export without secrets" downloads all your data as a file, with your secrets still encrypted. "Export with secrets" needs your vault unlocked; then select "Download readable export" to download a readable file that includes your secrets in plain text. Store that file carefully.