Where Does Bitwarden Store Local Vault Data?
Bitwarden desktop app data folder on Windows, macOS and Linux, including the encrypted local vault cache.
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The Bitwarden desktop app caches an encrypted copy of your vault locally. The live data lives in your Bitwarden account (cloud or self-hosted), and the app syncs against it.
The desktop profile follows the standard per-OS app data path. Wiping it is a legitimate troubleshooting step for sync problems.
Where Bitwarden stores this, by platform
%APPDATA%\Bitwarden
Standard Electron data folder. Holds the encrypted data.json cache. Log back in and sync after any wipe.
~/Library/Application Support/Bitwarden
Same role. Use Go to Folder in Finder to reach it.
~/.config/Bitwarden
Same layout under the XDG config home. Self-hosted users resync against their own server URL.
Frequently asked questions
Will wiping Bitwarden data lose my passwords?
The cloud vault is authoritative, so log back in and sync. Offline-only changes made since the last sync are lost, which is the one real risk in wiping.
How do I export my Bitwarden vault?
Use File > Export Vault in the desktop app (or the web vault) with your master password. The local data.json cache is encrypted and not a usable export format.
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