How to import your passwords to Apple’s iCloud Keychain via Safari

Feb 24,2024
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#Apple
# iOS

If you are tired of third-party password managers like LastPass and 1Password and can’t trust them enough, then it's time to move on. Using the password managers provided by the browsers and the operating system would seem like an easy and convenient alternative.

Though considered insecure before, Apple and Google have worked on securing their in-built password managers. However, the real deal is to get your pre-existing passwords into their system, especially Apple. If you are an Apple user, then you probably use Safari browser for your passwords and save them through iCloud Keychain. If yes, then keep reading to learn how to move all your passwords to iCloud Keychain.

Get Keychain first

iCloud Keychain is how Apple syncs data such as passwords, credit and debit card credentials, Wi-Fi passwords, etc. across devices.

The first step is to check if you have the iCloud Keychain set-up and turned on.

On Mac-OS

Go to your System Preferences app by clicking on the Apple icon in the upper-left corner
If you have macOS Mojave or earlier, click iCloud. Otherwise, select Apple ID > iCloud.
Go down the list of apps, and make sure that Keychain is checked

On iOS

Go to Settings and tap on your name
Tap on iCloud and scroll down to Keychain
If Keychain is Off, tap on the entry and then toggle it on

Importing the passwords

To get started, you need to export a CSV file from your old password manager. Next, to get your data on Keychain, you need to import the CSV file into Safari on your Mac.

But here lies the problem.

Unlike other password managers, you cannot import a CSV file into Safari. You can work around by uploading the data on other browsers such as Firefox and Chrome. If you don’t have them installed, do so first.

After you have imported the data on any of the other browsers, follow the steps below.

Close the other browser
Open Safari, go to File > Import From and choose Chrome or Firefox. You can import Bookmarks, History, Passwords, or any combination thereof by checking the appropriate boxes.

Your work is done!

To check if it worked properly, go to Safari’s top menu and select Safari > Preferences > Passwords. Your passwords should be listed there.

Now your passwords will be automatically synced across all devices by iCloud Keychain. You can check if your passwords are correctly added by typing and clicking on “Keychain Access” using Spotlight Search. That should bring up your Keychain app. Now you can click on iCloud in the top-left column and “Passwords” in the bottom left to see your imported passwords.