If the old system keychain needs to be deleted or if a user wants to create an additional keychain for personal use, a new keychain will need to be created.
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Note: From the Keychain access panel you can create a new keychain, delete an existing keychain or change the password on a keychain.
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While the use of separate keychains may seem odd at first, it can be helpful if you use your Mac for different tasks in the same work environment.
As with your login keychain you can change this keychain’s settings and lock it from the Keychain Status menu.
To do this, choose File > New Keychain to create a new keychain and then drag specific password items from your login keychain to this new one (and authenticating when prompted). Sometimes having just one keychain isn’t enough, particularly if you want to log into your Mac without granting access to all of your services. These options are fine for general use, but there are additional options in the keychain that might be helpful for handling your passwords and securing them.Įxpose the Keychain Status menu and you can manually lock your keychains.Ĭreating additional keychains. This can also be useful for removing duplicate keychain entries for the same account, which may prevent services from retrieving the correct password and then prompting you to supply it. You can also remove individual keychain entries, which can be done by selecting the one (or ones) associated with your problematic accounts or services, and then deleting them so OS X can re-create them. The panel that appears can be used to repair your keychain file. To fix this, you have two general options in Keychain Access.Ĭheck the health of your keychain by selecting it in the Keychain Access sidebar and then choose Keychain First Aid from the Keychain Access application menu (or press Shift-Command-A). If you find that an app repeatedly prompts you for a password when you’ve already added it to the keychain, something in the keychain may not be right. Once the password is in the clipboard you can paste it where you need it.įew people know that you can copy passwords into the clipboard.īeyond password storage and retrieval, Keychain Access allows you to troubleshoot problems you may have with passwords on your Mac. Again, you’ll be prompted for the username and password for the login keychain. In addition to this approach, you can copy a password to the clipboard by selecting Edit > Copy Password to Clipboard (or press Shift-Command-C or right-click on the item). The password will appear in the appropriate field. When prompted, enter the username and password associated with the login keychain and click Allow. Double-click the keychain entry to open it and then enable the Show Password option. The first is to launch Keychain Access (found in /Applications/Utilities) and search for your desired service-, for example. Should you need to retrieve your password, you can easily do so with two options using Keychain Access. This is particularly so if you use Apple’s password generation tools, which create passwords difficult to remember.
However, since it does so automatically, you may so rarely interact with your passwords that you forget them. Since the keychain holds your passwords, it’s hardly a leap to believe it can be used to retrieve them.
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Here’s how to put these options to best use. While it can do all that, the keychain and its partner, Keychain Access, offer additional password-related options you should be aware of. And perhaps you think that’s all it’s good for-storing your web, email, and network passwords. If you’ve ever encountered a dialog box that, upon asking for a password, offers to store it, you’ve had a brush with OS X’s keychain.