Is there a recommended type to use?
My guess is they depend on what your backing up against but I would like to see other peoples reasoning’s for using one over the other.
You want to use a password protected backup because the other option will only work with Bitwarden.
I wouldn’t want my backups to only work with one service.
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If you’re trying to protect against your account disappearing, the first option won’t help you as it relies on your account’s encryption key (which isn’t just your password, evident by the fact that rotating your account encryption key while keeping your password the same will render that backup useless). I would consider that first backup option only valid for recovering deleted items from the same account while that account is still active.
Given this, I would consider the second backup option much more versatile, as it can be used for the above purpose as well as importing into a new account should something happen to your old account or even to Bitwarden’s hosted service, since many people host Bitwarden independently and you could import into another instance. Since it’s encrypted in a standard way unrelated to a Bitwarden account key, you could even decrypt it with a third-party tool independent of Bitwarden, such as BitwardenDecrypt (note that I have not verified the effectiveness of this tool; I am simply using it as an example to show that such tools exist).
A third option is to encrypt an unencrypted export with a standard tool such as one recommended by Privacy Guides here, so you don’t have to go looking for a Bitwarden-specific tool. You may consider encrypting an entire USB drive with VeraCrypt and storing your Bitwarden backups there in addition to any other sensitive backups, such as those from your 2FA app.
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Unencrypted export + VeraCrypt (or alike tools) not a must.
You can use Password restricted export and if Bitwarden seize to exist – still import backup into KeepassXC.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitwarden/comments/1cwgk7y/keepassxc_can_now_directly_import_bitwarden
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