Export and import vault secrets from your Postman Local Vault

Since vault secrets are only available locally in your Postman Local Vault, they aren’t preserved when you sign out of Postman, switch between the Postman desktop and web apps, or switch to a different machine. Export your vault secrets from your local vault to preserve them in a JSON file for later, either in encrypted or plaintext format. Then import your vault secrets back in to your local vault after you’ve signed in or switched to a different Postman app or machine.

As an Admin on a Team or Enterprise plan, you can manage whether your teammates can export vault secrets.

Export vault secrets

1. Open your Postman Local Vault.

2. Click View more actions in the upper right of your local vault, then select Export.

3. Choose how you’d like to download your vault secrets:

   • Encrypted (recommended) - Download your vault secrets in encrypted format. Set a password with a minimum of 12 alphanumeric characters. Postman requires the password when importing the JSON file into Postman.
   • Unencrypted - Download your vault secrets in plaintext format.
   If you’re on a Team or Enterprise plan, an Admin may have restricted options for exporting your vault secrets.

4. Click Export to download your vault secrets as a JSON file.

Import vault secrets

You can import vault secrets into your Postman Vault using the JSON file you downloaded when exporting your vault secrets.

To import vault secrets into your Postman Vault, do the following:

1. Open your Postman Local Vault.

2. Optionally, you can clear all of the vault secrets from your local vault. Click View more actions in the upper right of your Postman Vault, select Clear, and click Clear to confirm.

3. Click Import in the sidebar.

4. Select or drag a file or folder, enter a link to a specification file, paste raw text, or import from a remote repository.

   Vault secrets created with a Postman Vault integration are only supported in the Postman desktop app. After importing your vault secrets, you’ll need to reauthenticate with your external vault from the desktop app.

5. If you’re importing vault secrets from an encrypted JSON file, enter your password.

6. Click Import.

7. Postman notifies you if you’re importing duplicate vault secrets. You can take the following actions:

   • Select the checkbox next to Apply to all number of vault secrets conflicts to apply the same decision (replace or keep) to multiple vault secrets you’re importing.
   • Click Replace to delete the existing vault secret with the same name and replace it with the new vault secret.
   • Click Keep to keep the new and existing vault secrets with the same name. In your Postman Vault, the existing vault secret has a warning icon next to its name, indicating that it’s being overwritten by the new vault secret.