diff --git a/action/show.go b/action/show.go
index 190254937b..e84b94fe0b 100644
--- a/action/show.go
+++ b/action/show.go
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 package action
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/atotto/clipboard"
 	"github.com/fatih/color"
 	"github.com/justwatchcom/gopass/qrcon"
+	"github.com/smallfish/simpleyaml"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli"
 )
 
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ func (s *Action) Show(c *cli.Context) error {
 	clip := c.Bool("clip")
 	force := c.Bool("force")
 	qr := c.Bool("qr")
+	key := c.String("key")
 
 	if name == "" {
 		return fmt.Errorf("provide a secret name")
@@ -25,12 +26,42 @@ func (s *Action) Show(c *cli.Context) error {
 		return s.List(c)
 	}
 
-	if clip || qr {
-		content, err := s.Store.First(name)
+	content, err := s.Store.Get(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// load metadata if we want to parse the YAML (key is given) or we only want to display safe content (=metadata) and no clip/qr flag is given
+	if key != "" || (s.Store.SafeContent && !force && !(clip || qr)) {
+		content, err = s.Store.Metadata(name)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+	} else if clip || qr {
+		content, err = s.Store.First(name)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
 
+	if key != "" {
+		yaml, err := simpleyaml.NewYaml(content)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to load secret as yaml")
+		} else {
+			value, err := yaml.Get(key).String()
+			if err != nil {
+				keys, err := yaml.GetMapKeys()
+				if err == nil {
+					return fmt.Errorf("%s not available. Available keys are: %s\n", key, keys)
+				}
+			} else {
+				content = []byte(value)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if clip || qr {
 		if qr {
 			qr, err := qrcon.QRCode(string(content))
 			if err != nil {
@@ -42,19 +73,6 @@ func (s *Action) Show(c *cli.Context) error {
 		return s.copyToClipboard(name, content)
 	}
 
-	content, err := s.Store.Get(name)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	if s.Store.SafeContent && !force {
-		lines := bytes.SplitN(content, []byte("\n"), 2)
-		if len(lines) < 2 || len(bytes.TrimSpace(lines[1])) == 0 {
-			return fmt.Errorf("no safe content to display, you can force display with show -f")
-		}
-		content = lines[1]
-	}
-
 	color.Yellow(string(content))
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 38605932ac..c9f70d15eb 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -416,6 +416,10 @@ func main() {
 					Name:  "force, f",
 					Usage: "Display the password even if safecontent is enabled",
 				},
+				cli.StringFlag{
+					Name:  "key, k",
+					Usage: "Load secret metadata as YAML and display a single key",
+				},
 			},
 		},
 		{
diff --git a/password/root_store.go b/password/root_store.go
index a75d7503a9..0aa9b03e38 100644
--- a/password/root_store.go
+++ b/password/root_store.go
@@ -325,6 +325,19 @@ func (r *RootStore) First(name string) ([]byte, error) {
 	return bytes.TrimSpace(lines[0]), nil
 }
 
+// Metadata returns the content of a single entry except of the first line (the password)
+func (r *RootStore) Metadata(name string) ([]byte, error) {
+	content, err := r.Get(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	lines := bytes.SplitN(content, []byte("\n"), 2)
+	if len(lines) < 2 || len(bytes.TrimSpace(lines[1])) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no metadata found")
+	}
+	return lines[1], nil
+}
+
 // Exists checks the existence of a single entry
 func (r *RootStore) Exists(name string) (bool, error) {
 	store := r.getStore(name)