Forgotten Keychain Password (macOS)

Keychain

Keychain in Mac OS X / macOS password manager that safely stores and encrypts saved information like account information, banking information, and other sensitive material. In the event that a user forgets the password to access their Keychain, there is a simple way to reset that Keychain password in macOS.

Procedure

  1.  In macOS, open the Finder.
  2. With Finder open, press "Go" in the top-left of the screen, and then select "Utilities" from the drop-down menu.
  3. In the Utilities folder, open "Keychain Access".
  4. With Keychain Access open, select "Keychain Access" in the top-left of your screen, and then select "Preferences" from the drop-down menu.
  5. In the Preferences menu, press "Reset Default Keychains..." and sign in with the account password (if it is a university device, use your Southeast account password).
  6. When prompted, enter the password a second time; this is a normal, extra layer of security for macOS.
  7. A message should appear that says "Created a new empty "login" keychain with no password. Please change password using Edit > Change Password for Keychain." Press "OK".

This will create a new, empty Keychain that will store future login information in a safe, encrypted manner.

Related Articles

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-keychains-to-store-passwords-mchlf375f392/mac -- Keychain for Mac