How to Backup Master Key properly

Hello everyone,

I’m new to the forum; I’m also new to Cryptomator.

I have a question regarding the master key file, apologies if this is in the incorrect place to post.

  1. Do I need to make a backup of my master key and backup file EVERY time I add new items to the vault?

  2. Is backing up of the master key and backup file just a case of dragging over to an external drive/USB etc?

  3. Should the need arise, and for the purposes of ‘preparing for the worst case scenario’ - Let’s say my cloud provider gets hacked and my data is still there but just the master key and backup file was destroyed - could I then just copy/paste my backups back into the vault area and it would unlock again?

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Hi.

No. When does the master.key change

It’s just a file that you include into your backup strategy. If this is copying files to an external drive, the answer is yes. (but I have to admit I’m unsure if I understand your question right)

Yes, if your Backup is not too old (see your first question)

But: from my point of view it is very unlikely that an intruder only delete your Masterkey file. In general you should be prepared to loose all of your data at any time and therefore have a backup strategy to counter such risks.
This is why I prefer to backup what’s in my vaults to deal with the worst case. But if you want to include the Masterkey file into your backup, just do the same thing with it that you do (hopefully) with your other critical files you don’t want to loose.

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Thank you @Michael your answers were perfect. :slight_smile: :slightly_smiling_face: