Password manager emergency access compared: Bitwarden, LastPass, 1Password and more

28 October 2026 · 8 min read

A password manager is the best way to protect your accounts while you're alive. But a good one is built so that nobody else can open it, not even the company behind it. So if something happens to you, your family can't simply ask for access. Emergency access is how you plan for that in advance. Here's how the main password managers handle it, as of October 2026.

How emergency access usually works

You invite a trusted contact. In most password managers, they need their own account with the same service, and they must accept the invitation.
You choose a waiting period, for example a few days.
When it's needed, your contact requests access. You're notified and can refuse if it isn't a real emergency.
If you don't respond before the waiting period ends, access is granted automatically.

The waiting period is the safeguard: it gives you time to say no while you're able to, and lets your family in when you're not.

Bitwarden

Bitwarden's Emergency Access is included with Premium and with paid organization plans such as Families. Your trusted contacts need a Bitwarden account, but a free one is enough, and there's no limit on how many you add. For each contact you choose a level of access: View lets them read the items in your vault, including passwords and attachments; Takeover lets them set a new master password and take over your account. The minimum waiting period is one day. Bitwarden says it works in a zero-knowledge way: your vault key is encrypted for your contact, so Bitwarden itself still can't read your vault.

LastPass

LastPass includes Emergency Access in its Premium, Families and Plus plans, but not in the free plan. Your contact needs to be a LastPass user. You decide whether they can get in right away or only after a waiting period you set, and access is granted if you don't deny the request in time. LastPass describes it as one-time access to your vault.

Keeper

Keeper lets you name up to five emergency contacts, who must be Keeper users. You can set a delay of up to three months for each; the countdown starts when your contact first tries to access your vault. The feature is for personal (consumer) accounts.

NordPass

You need NordPass Premium (individual or Family) to give emergency access, but your contact can use a free NordPass account. When they request access, you have seven days to accept or decline; if you do nothing, access is granted automatically. Your contact can then see your passwords and notes, without ever learning your master password.

Proton

Proton offers emergency access on all its paid plans. It works at the level of your whole Proton Account, not Proton Pass alone. You can add up to five contacts, who need a Proton email address, and choose a waiting period of 1, 2, 3, 7, 14 or 30 days. Proton notifies you of every request, you can approve one early, and it's granted automatically when the waiting period ends.

Dashlane

Dashlane's old emergency contact feature worked only in its desktop app, which it no longer offers. Today, Dashlane suggests a manual approach: export your data to a password-protected file, store or share that file with the person you trust, and give them the password separately. They need both to open it. The catch is that the file is a snapshot: anything you save afterwards isn't in it unless you export again.

1Password

1Password has no built-in emergency access. Instead, it points to its Emergency Kit: a PDF with your sign-in address, email address and Secret Key, with space to write your account password. 1Password suggests keeping a printed copy somewhere safe, for example with your will, and giving a copy to someone you trust. In a family account, a family organizer can also recover another member's account, but recovery is designed for living members: it starts with an email the member has to confirm.

At a glance

	Built-in emergency access	Your contact needs	Waiting period
Bitwarden	Yes (Premium)	A Bitwarden account (free is fine)	You choose, at least 1 day
LastPass	Yes (paid plans)	A LastPass account	Immediate or you choose
Keeper	Yes, up to 5 contacts	A Keeper account	Optional, up to 3 months
NordPass	Yes (Premium)	A NordPass account (free is fine)	7 days
Proton	Yes (paid plans), up to 5 contacts	A Proton email address	1 to 30 days
Dashlane	No: an exported file and its password	The file and the password	None
1Password	No: the Emergency Kit	The kit and your account password	None

What about Apple and Google?

If you save your passwords in your iPhone or in Chrome, the picture is different. Apple's Legacy Contact gives access to a lot of iCloud data, but not to the passwords saved in iCloud Keychain. Google's Inactive Account Manager can share data with people you choose after a period of inactivity. See our guides to Apple Legacy Contact and Google Inactive Account Manager.

Before you rely on it

Set it up now. Every option above only works if the invitation was sent and accepted while you were able to do it.
Tell your contact what it's for, and where they'll find the service, so a notification years from now isn't a mystery.
Choose the waiting period with care. Too short, and a request you miss on holiday goes through. Too long, and your family waits for weeks to pay bills.
Think about two-factor codes. If your logins depend on codes sent to your phone, your contact also needs a way to get them. Our guide to what happens to your passwords when you die covers this.
Remember what's not in the vault: the documents, wishes and instructions that matter just as much. See our digital estate planning checklist.

Where Heritkey fits

We're building Heritkey for exactly this moment, whatever password manager you use. It keeps your passwords, accounts, documents and instructions in an end-to-end encrypted vault. You choose who can open it and after what waiting period, and you can refuse any request while you're able to. Nobody else, not even us, can read what's inside. See how Heritkey works.