Symptoms

Entering your master password doesn't unlock the vault, or you get a "Vault error" / "Security key required" message.

Likely causes

  • An incorrect master password — Vodou can't tell you which part is wrong, since password verification and decryption are the same step.
  • The vault requires a registered security key (two-factor) and none is plugged in / detected.
  • Vault file corruption (rare — e.g. an interrupted disk write).

Solutions

  1. Double-check for caps lock and keyboard layout issues, then retry.
  2. If two-factor is enabled, make sure the registered security key is connected, then try again — the error message tells you plainly if no key was found.
  3. If a security key fails to respond, unplug and reconnect it, and confirm it's the correct one you registered.

If the vault reports itself corrupted or unreadable, Vodou explicitly does not modify the file — it's still on disk exactly as it was. There's no built-in repair tool, since a corrupted encrypted file generally can't be safely reconstructed. If you truly cannot recover access, "Start over" (in the unlock window) is the only way forward, and it deletes the vault. This is a good reason to keep an encrypted CSV export somewhere safe in advance — see Importing and exporting passwords.