When the Safari web browser saves a password, or when you sign into a service via an app, that password is stored in the keychain, and you can view and edit data in the keychain in Keychain Access. The Keychain Access app is a graphical user interface for a set of encrypted files on your Mac. As with Safari, you need to authenticate to access these passwords. This is essentially the same as what you see in Safari: you can view and edit passwords, see compromised and reused passwords, and configure two-factor authentication for websites. You can also enter codes to set up two-factor authentication, and when you sign into a website that requires 2FA, Safari can automatically fill the code (see below to find out how to set up 2FA for your logins).įinally, since macOS Monterey, you can also access passwords in the Passwords tab of System Preferences.

You can view and edit these passwords, and Safari can flag compromised passwords – user name and password combinations that have been found in data breaches – and alert you to reused passwords. A Passwords tab lets you view and edit passwords for websites you can access in the browser you need to enter the password of your user account – or use Touch ID – to view these passwords. Safari allows you to access passwords in its Preferences. When you sign into apps like Twitter, Slack, or Skype, the passwords you use are stored in your keychain, and you can view and edit them in Keychain Access. It stores passwords not just for the Safari web browser, but also for applications that store passwords to access websites or services. It provides access to your encrypted passwords, as well as other items such as certificates that ensure the security of websites and services. The Keychain Access app has been around on the Mac since the launch of Mac OS X. There are three ways you can access passwords on your Mac. Here’s how Apple’s iCloud keychain works. This file syncs via iCloud, so you can use the same passwords on all your devices. Your Macs and iOS devices have a “keychain,” which is an encrypted file that stores your logins, passwords, and some other information. (An episode of the Intego Mac Podcast talks about password strategies.)

Because of this, you need to ensure that your passwords are different for every website and app, and that they are hard to crack. It’s a bad idea to use the same password for different websites, because if one site is compromised, hackers will have an email address and password that they can try on other sites.

You use passwords to log into websites and services, and since there are so many of them, it’s hard to remember them. How To Mac and iOS Keychain Tutorial: How Apple’s iCloud Keychain Works

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