Most of the Mac users would be either used or aware of Keychain – Apple’s password management utility on Macs. This utility can store all the passwords for your applications, websites you visit and even the sensitive information including credit card numbers or personal identification numbers for bank accounts.
So when you open a website that ask your login password in your Mac, Keychain app can provide the password if it’s on its password list. And, when the first time you start Keychain app, it’ll have the same password as your Mac’s login password. Sometimes, it can lead to some problems when the Keychain password does not match with login password. The main cause of this problem would be using other authentication methods rather than Mac’s default local login settings.
In such circumstances, the keychain app won’t unlock for use with password management. Instead, it may show a warning message saying the program wants to use the “login” keychain. If the user cancels this message, the saved password information on Keychain won’t be available while using the program next time.
The first option you have in order to tackle this problem is to a run a basic troubleshooting for your mac machine. If it’s not helping you, follow the steps below.
How to Fix This Keychain Problem Within a Very Short Span of Time?
To fix password mismatch issues in Keychain, a user has to change his/her Keychain password in accordance with login password of the Mac. If you want to do this, you’ve to locate Keychain app on your Mac at first. It’ll be located at Applications\Utilities. Firstly, launch this tool.
- In the left pane of the application window, you’ll see a tab “login” under Keychains. Open it.
- Click “Edit” from the menu at the top of the screen.
- Select “Change Password” option for login.
- Enter the keychain password. (using which you could able to login successfully before the most recent password change).
- Enter your new password. It should match with the password you are using to log into your Mac. Finally, verify the password once again.
What If Users Can’t Reset Their Keychain Password?
If you forget your keychain password existed before login password change, it won’t be possible for you to reset your keychain password. This situation can also happen if the Keychain became corrupt as well. In such situations, it’s necessary to manually delete and recreate your Keychain password. Here’s how you can do this.
Warning: Perform these steps if you’re an advanced user/ or in the presence of expert Mac personnel.
1. Select Go menu in Mac Finder. Hold Option key while the menu is being displayed. It’ll display the hidden Library menu
2. Choose Keychains options from Library menu and delete your keychain file from here.
3. Restart Safari or any other app that’s using Keychains.
4. It’ll tell you that the Keychain cannot be found on your machine. And, there’d be a button Reset to Defaults. Choose it and confirm your action.
5. At last, it’ll ask you to enter your login password as your Keychain password. Enter the password and restart the program. Your issue will be resolved now.
