Which route applies to you
| Sync on (membership) | No sync | |
|---|---|---|
| How | Sign in on the new phone; everything returns | Export on the old phone, import on the new one |
| Passkeys | Come across | Do not (see below) |
| Attachments, ID photos | Come across | Only if they had finished downloading |
| What you do | Enter the master password once | Export, transfer the file, import |
If you have a membership and sync is already on, go straight to the next section — no export needed.
Route 1: sign in and it comes back (recommended)
- Install KeyMe Pass on the new phone
- Choose "I already have an account" and enter your email
- Enter your master password
- Wait for the first sync
That is all. You do not need the recovery key on the new phone — it exists for when you have forgotten the master password, not for moving devices, and it is restored to the new device automatically after you sign in.
Nor is there anything to prepare on the old phone.
⚠️ An empty vault right after signing in is normal
The first sync pulls down the whole vault, which takes a while with many entries or large attachments. The app waits about 15 seconds and then lets you in, continuing in the background.
What you see at that point may be empty or partial. That is expected. The sync card on the home screen shows progress; give it a moment.
If the system kills it midway, the next unlock picks up where it left off. Worth doing the first sync on Wi-Fi with the app in the foreground.
Route 2: move a file
For when sync is off. Full steps are in Export and backup; here is what matters when switching phones:
- Choose ZIP, not CSV. CSV holds only passwords, codes and secure notes — documents, payment cards, SSH keys and attachments are all absent.
- Turn encryption on. In an unencrypted ZIP, passwords and SSH private keys sit in plain text for anyone who gets the file.
- The encryption password is separate from your master password; remember it, because the import needs it.
⚠️ Passkeys do not travel this way
Passkeys are not in any export format. Their only cross-device route is account sync.
If you use passkeys and do not want sync, they will not appear on the new phone.
Three things that catch people out
1. Exporting right after signing in loses attachments
Attachments and ID photos download separately during sync. Export before they finish and those files are missing from the package — the records are there, but the images will not open.
To make a backup on the new phone, wait until sync has completed.
2. There is no remote wipe for the old phone
KeyMe Pass has no "sign out other devices" and no remote erase. After you switch, the data on the old phone is still there and still syncing.
Clearing it is something you do on that device: sign out, or wipe local data under My → Security settings. Do this before selling or giving the phone away.
3. Leaving the old device on an old version causes damage
If you keep using the old phone, update it too.
An older app does not recognise fields added in newer versions, and writes records back without them — wiping data that exists on your new device. The app warns about this before syncing.
One thing worth doing first
Check you still have your recovery key. Switching phones does not need it, but if the master password will not come back to you on the new phone, the recovery key is the only thing that saves your data — without it the only way forward is an email reset, which erases everything in the cloud and on your devices.
See What the recovery key is, and what happens if you lose it.