How to Use the Passwords App on macOS to Manage All Your Saved Passwords

For years, managing passwords on a Mac meant digging through Keychain Access — a utility buried in the Utilities folder that felt more like a developer tool than something designed for everyday users. Finding a saved Wi-Fi password or checking a website login required navigating a confusing interface filled with certificates, secure notes, and cryptographic keys.

Starting with macOS Sequoia, Apple introduced a dedicated Passwords app. This standalone application provides a clean, purpose-built interface for viewing, organising, and managing every password, passkey, verification code, and Wi-Fi credential saved to your iCloud Keychain. It replaces the need to ever open Keychain Access for day-to-day password management.

How to Open the Passwords App

The Passwords app is installed by default on macOS Sequoia and later. You can open it using any of these methods:

• Click the Launchpad icon in the Dock, then search for “Passwords”.
• Open Spotlight (Cmd + Space) and type “Passwords”.
• Find it in Applications in Finder.

When you first open the app, you will need to authenticate using Touch ID or your Mac login password. The app requires authentication every time you open it, ensuring that your credentials remain secure even if someone else has access to your unlocked Mac.

Understanding the Passwords App Interface

The app is divided into a sidebar on the left and a detail view on the right. The sidebar contains several categories:

• All — Every saved credential in your iCloud Keychain.
• Passkeys — Passwordless credentials for websites that support the FIDO2/WebAuthn standard.
• Codes — Two-factor authentication (2FA) verification codes.
• Wi-Fi — Saved Wi-Fi network passwords.
• Security — Passwords that have been compromised in known data breaches, passwords that are too weak, or passwords that are reused across multiple sites.
• Deleted — Recently deleted credentials (recoverable for 30 days).

Viewing and Copying Passwords

To view a saved password:

1. Click on any entry in the list.
2. The detail pane shows the website, username, and a masked password field.
3. Hover over the password field to reveal it, or click the copy button to copy it to your clipboard.

You can also copy usernames, one-time verification codes, and website URLs directly from the detail pane.

Adding Passwords Manually

While most passwords are saved automatically when you log into websites in Safari, you can also add credentials manually:

1. Click the + button at the bottom of the Passwords app.
2. Enter the website URL, username, and password.
3. Click Save.

This is useful for passwords you have stored elsewhere (in a notebook, a text file, or another password manager) that you want to consolidate into iCloud Keychain.

The Security Section: Finding Weak and Compromised Passwords

The Security section in the sidebar is one of the most valuable features. It analyses all your saved passwords and flags three types of problems:

Compromised Passwords

Apple checks your saved passwords against known data breaches. If a password you use has appeared in a public data breach (even if it was from a different service), it is flagged as compromised. You should change these passwords immediately.

Reused Passwords

If you use the same password for multiple websites, all of them are flagged. If one of those sites is breached, an attacker could use the same password to access all the others. Each website should have a unique password.

Weak Passwords

Passwords that are too short, use common patterns, or lack complexity are flagged. The app suggests changing them to stronger alternatives.

For each flagged password, the Security section provides a direct link to the website’s password change page (when available), making it easy to fix the issue immediately.

Generating Strong Passwords

When you create a new account in Safari, macOS automatically suggests a strong, randomly generated password. The Passwords app stores these generated passwords and keeps them synced across all your Apple devices.

You can also generate a strong password manually within the Passwords app by clicking the + button and using the password suggestion that appears.

Two-Factor Authentication Codes

The Passwords app can store and auto-fill two-factor authentication (2FA) verification codes, eliminating the need for a separate authenticator app like Google Authenticator or Authy.

To set up a verification code:

1. Find the entry for the website in the Passwords app.
2. Click Set Up Verification Code.
3. Enter the setup key provided by the website, or scan the QR code using your iPhone’s camera.

Once configured, the Passwords app generates time-based one-time passwords (TOTP) that auto-fill in Safari when you log into the website. The codes refresh every 30 seconds, just like a dedicated authenticator app.

Wi-Fi Passwords

The Wi-Fi section displays every Wi-Fi network password saved to your iCloud Keychain. This is invaluable when you need to:

• Share a Wi-Fi password with a guest.
• Connect a non-Apple device to a network your Mac has joined before.
• Check the password for a network you connected to months ago at a hotel or office.

Previously, finding Wi-Fi passwords required using the command-line security tool or navigating the complex Keychain Access utility. The Passwords app makes it a simple lookup.

Sharing Passwords with Trusted Contacts

The Passwords app supports Shared Groups. You can create a group of trusted people (family members, team members) and share specific passwords with them through iCloud Keychain.

1. In the Passwords app, click New Group in the sidebar.
2. Name the group and add members by their Apple ID.
3. Drag passwords into the group, or select passwords and choose “Move to Group”.

Everyone in the group can view, use, and update the shared passwords. Changes sync automatically across all members’ devices. This is ideal for sharing streaming service passwords with family, or shared work tool credentials with colleagues.

iCloud Keychain Sync Across Devices

Every password saved in the Passwords app syncs automatically to all devices signed into the same Apple ID:

• iPhone and iPad — Access passwords through Settings > Passwords, or the dedicated Passwords app (iOS 18+).
• Other Macs — The Passwords app syncs across all Macs running macOS Sequoia.
• Windows — Install the iCloud for Windows app to access iCloud Keychain passwords in Chrome and Edge on a Windows PC.

All data is end-to-end encrypted. Apple cannot read your passwords, even if they wanted to.

Passwords App vs Third-Party Password Managers

The Passwords app is a capable password manager for users fully within the Apple ecosystem. Its main advantages are deep system integration (automatic saving and auto-filling in Safari), no subscription cost, and seamless sync across Apple devices.

However, if you frequently use non-Apple devices, need advanced features like secure file attachments, or require team management with granular permissions, a dedicated password manager like 1Password or Bitwarden may still be the better choice.

For most Mac users who primarily use Safari and Apple devices, the built-in Passwords app provides everything needed to manage credentials securely without paying for a third-party service.