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Getting started
with Talos.

Your passwords, codes, and private files, together in an encrypted vault. Learn to set up Talos, organize your information, and make its features part of your everyday routine.

New to Talos?Start with the essentialsBringing a database?Understand KDBX importKeep access in your hands.Passwords, locking & backups

CHAPTER 13 13

Decoy Vault

Create and manage a separate linked database with a distinct password.

In this chapter 13 topics

Maintain an alternate set of vault content behind a separate password. Decoy Vault links a second encrypted KDBX database to your primary vault and opens it through the same database selection.

Your primary password opens the primary content; your distinct decoy password opens the decoy content. Each environment has its own records and uses Talos’s familiar interface.

Before You Begin

  • Unlock the primary vault you want to configure.
  • Have eligible Premium access.
  • Choose a strong decoy password that differs from your primary password.
  • Keep a secure reference for each password.

This chapter uses the fictional Abigail’s Vault. The linked decoy shares its display name and catalog selection.

Step 1 — Open Decoy Settings

  1. Unlock Abigail’s Vault with the primary master password.
  2. Choose Menu (…) > Settings.
  3. Scroll to Vault Settings and check Active Vault.
  4. Tap Decoy Vault > Manage.
Settings showing Abigail's Vault as Active Vault and Decoy Vault with Manage

Manage the linked decoy from the primary vault.

Step 2 — Choose the Starting Content

The initial setup includes Decoy Content, Password, and Security.

Initial Decoy setup showing Empty Decoy, concealed-password fields, and the security notice

Choose one of two creation types:

Creation type Starting content
Empty Decoy Start with an empty vault and add your own records.
Sample Fake Content Start with an editable fictional dataset.

Personalize Sample Content

Choose Sample Fake Content to reveal Name, Keyword, and More Personal-Looking Content.

Sample Fake Content options with Name, Keyword, personalization switch, and the generated-content description

Name and Keyword help personalize sample usernames and email addresses. Leave them empty for a general profile. These fields describe the sample content; the vault keeps the primary’s display name.

Step 3 — Create Your Decoy

  1. Select the desired creation type.
  2. For this example, choose Sample Fake Content, enter Abigail and Northstar, and enable More Personal-Looking Content.
Sample Fake Content selected with Abigail, Northstar, and More Personal-Looking Content enabled
  1. Enter Decoy Password and Confirm Password.
  2. Use a unique password with at least 12 characters, uppercase and lowercase letters, a number, and a symbol.
  3. Tap Create Sample Decoy, or the creation action for an empty decoy.
  4. After creation, the management screen displays the linked file and decoy controls.

Step 4 — Open the Decoy

  1. Return to Vault Home and choose Menu (…) > Lock.
  2. In Databases, select Abigail’s Vault.
  3. Enter the decoy password in Master Password.
  4. Tap Unlock.
The shared Abigail's Vault unlock screen with an empty Master Password field and no separate decoy selector

The password selects the environment. A linked primary/decoy pair uses password-based opening, with direct biometric unlock and automatic reopening disabled.

The sample decoy opens with generated content already organized.

Sample Decoy Vault Home with populated categories under Abigail's Vault

Explore the Sample Dataset

Category Example starting content
All 35 login entries
Groups 9 groups
2FA Codes 15 configurations
Notes 7 notes
Files 2 files
Credit Cards 3 cards

Photos and Deleted begin empty. Sample records are fictional and editable.

Open Groups to browse Email, Files, Finance, Notes, Shopping, Social, Streaming, Travel, and Utility.

Nine generated groups and their record counts in the sample Decoy Vault

Open the dedicated categories on Vault Home to browse each record type. Notes includes examples such as Delivery Notes, Gift Ideas, Home Maintenance Note, Home Wi-Fi, Subscription Reminder, and Travel Checklist.

Generated sample notes with fictional text, including Delivery Notes and NorthstarHome in Home Wi-Fi

Open Files to find Device Warranty Notes and Travel Insurance Summary.

Sample Files category showing Device Warranty Notes and Travel Insurance Summary

Open any record to read it. Use Edit and Save to personalize its content, or Add (+) to create another record. The same notes and cards, document, and category protection workflows apply within the active vault.

Step 5 — Return to Your Primary Vault

  1. On the decoy’s Vault Home, choose Menu (…) > Lock.
  2. Select the same database in Databases.
  3. Enter the primary master password.
  4. Tap Unlock to return to your primary content.

The example below returns from the populated sample decoy to a primary vault whose Notes category is empty.

Empty primary Notes category after locking the populated sample decoy and reopening with the primary password

The two environments keep their own content. Changes are saved to the database you have opened.

Alternative — Start with an Empty Decoy

Choose Empty Decoy during initial setup to build the alternate content yourself. The configured management screen displays the linked file and available controls.

Configured Decoy Vault showing the linked file and management controls

For example, open the empty decoy with its password and use Notes > Add (+) > New Note to create Personal Notes.

Decoy Notes category containing the saved Personal Notes record

Enter your content and save. Open the note to read or edit it.

Personal Notes detail screen inside the decoy vault

Lock the vault and reopen with the primary password to return to your primary notes, such as Travel Information in this separate example.

Primary vault Notes category showing Travel Information

Manage Your Decoy

Unlock the primary vault, then open Settings > Vault Settings > Decoy Vault > Manage.

Change the Decoy Password

Enter Current Decoy Password, New Decoy Password, and Confirm New Password, then tap Change Password. Keep the new password securely and use it for the next decoy unlock.

The primary vault keeps its own password.

Delete the Decoy

  1. Open decoy management from the primary vault.
  2. Tap Delete Decoy.
  3. Read the confirmation.
  4. Choose Delete to remove the linked decoy database and its association, or Cancel to keep it.
Delete Decoy Vault confirmation explaining linked-file deletion and association removal

The primary database is retained.

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