Docs / Obsidian Vault / Sharing

Emergency access

Emergency access lets someone you trust reach your vault if something happens to you, after a waiting period in which you can say no. Open Emergency access under Tools.

Naming emergency contacts is part of Premium. Anyone can be someone else's emergency contact.

Naming a trusted contact

1. Choose Add a trusted contact and enter their email address.
2. Choose what they get:
   • View: they can read your personal vault (not items in organizations).
   • Takeover: they can set a new master password for your account, and then sign in as you.
3. Choose the waiting period: 1 to 90 days.
4. They get an email and accept the invitation.
5. When they have accepted, confirm them: compare the fingerprint phrase they read you with the one on your screen, then confirm. Only then is your vault key locked to their key.

When they ask for access

When your contact asks for access, we email you at once, and again every day until you answer. You can allow it straight away or say no. If you don't answer by the end of the waiting period, access is granted automatically.

With view, they can then open your personal vault read-only. With takeover, they set a new master password for you: all your devices are signed out, your two-step login methods are removed, you leave organizations you don't own, and we email you.

You or your contact can remove the arrangement at any time.

Being someone's emergency contact

Invitations you receive appear on the same page. Accept them; the person who named you then confirms you. When you need access, choose Ask for access on their entry and wait for the waiting period (or for them to approve). Then choose Open their vault or Set a new master password, depending on what they gave you.

If you change your own keys (for example after recovering your account), the person who named you has to confirm you again.

An organization can turn off emergency access for its members.