Deleting Old Passwords In Keychain Question

Joined
Dec 5, 2008
Messages
713
Reaction score
43
Points
28
Location
Detroit
Your Mac's Specs
2007 Mac Book Pro 2.2 Ghz 4 GB RAM SSD OSX 10.11 & 2006 MBP Stuck At 10.6.8
Good Day To All!

For some reason, every once in a while Mail.app (OS X 10.6.8 Mail 4.6 1085) asks for my log in key chain. I'll give it to Mail, but if I don't tell it to remember the password in my keychain, it will ask over & over again, refusing to fetch the mail.

After time, I've ended up with dozens & dozens of passwords in the list in Keychain.app under the login keychain. Most are repeats for the same e-mail accounts. A few are for old wireless routers for the internet that I no longer have.

Before I start deleting the old entries and really mess things up, is it safe to get rid of the old dated entries?

Also, I wonder why Mail asks for the passwords so very often? I do have a keychain icon in the menu bar & lock it upon log-in- So that explains the initial request, but not the subsequent requests. It used to ask once & that was it until the next time I turned the computer off & back on. I have done permission repair. No changes. This is certainly no big problem. I'm simply curious.

Thanks For The Advice!
Paul
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Before I start deleting the old entries and really mess things up, is it safe to get rid of the old dated entries?

Yes, it's safe to remove the old entries. Why do you have your keychain icon in your menu bar when you start up? Are you using the keychain app as a password manager?
 
OP
PGB1
Joined
Dec 5, 2008
Messages
713
Reaction score
43
Points
28
Location
Detroit
Your Mac's Specs
2007 Mac Book Pro 2.2 Ghz 4 GB RAM SSD OSX 10.11 & 2006 MBP Stuck At 10.6.8
Thank You ChsCag for the advice about deleting the obsolete entries. I'll proceed (carefully) to clean up the list.

You asked why the Keychain icon is in the menu bar. When I have my computer at work, I often have to jump up & leave in an instant. I can click the icon and lock the screen fast. My computer isn't subject to theft in those situations, but it has been the victim of knuckleheads. (Thank goodness for frequent backups.)

Here's an "I Can't Remember Why" Item-
I also have the habit of locking the little padlock when I start up the computer or log in. For the life of me I can not remember why I felt this was important. I do remember that my Keychain password and my Login password are the same.

I apologize, but I don't know what you meant by using the Keychain app as a Password Manager. I think today is probably the second or third time I've ever opened Keychain app., so I don't think I am doing that.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top