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Get rid of keychain?

H

heycal

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 25, 2013
826
22
I tried setting up Keychain the other day, and linking my Mac Air to my iphone 6. Now every time I boot up the Mac, I see a "Max OS X wants to use your keychain" type of message, and then similar messages for Safari, Google Music Manager, etc.

I don't want to see any of this, and would just as soon turn off Keychain all together since I don't see a real benefit to it. But I can't seem to figure out how to get rid of it or stops the prompts.

Anyone know how to do this? Thanks.
 
MisterMe

MisterMe

macrumors G4
Jul 17, 2002
10,709
69
USA
Keychain is a Godsend. But if you don't see a need for it, then ... whatever floats your boat!
 
Last edited:
A

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
heycal said:
I haven't found a use for it yet. What am I missing?
Click to expand...
It's a secure way for you to store passwords used by your Mac and the applications on it. Wi-Fi, email servers, iCloud accounts, etc

Your keychain encrypts them. You have to unlock your keychain before your Mac or apps can read/write to the keychain.

Normally your keychain password is the same as the password that you use to login to your Mac. If so, the keychain automatic unlocks for you when you login.

If not, the keychain doesn't automatically unlock, and you get prompted every time the Mac or an app tries to access it.

There's an app in the Utilities folder that lets you look in and manage your key chains. See if you can use that to unlock the login keychain and see what your Mac has stored in there.
 
H

heycal

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 25, 2013
826
22
aristobrat said:
There's an app in the Utilities folder that lets you look in and manage your key chains. See if you can use that to unlock the login keychain and see what your Mac has stored in there.
Click to expand...

It currently offers me an option lock the keychain, so I'm guessing it's unlocked. But I still get prompts. I'm happy to use keychain if I can figure out a way not to prompt me all the time.

Is there something else in the keychain settings -- or the settings of the Mac itself -- I should be looking for or trying to do?
 
A

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
heycal said:
It currently offers me an option lock the keychain, so I'm guessing it's unlocked. But I still get prompts. I'm happy to use keychain if I can figure out a way not to prompt me all the time.
Click to expand...
Weird. I only get prompted the first time that an app wants to store something in the keychain. After that, the app leaves me alone.
 
H

heycal

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 25, 2013
826
22
aristobrat said:
Weird. I only get prompted the first time that an app wants to store something in the keychain. After that, the app leaves me alone.
Click to expand...

I get prompted that Mac OS X wants to use the keychain every time I boot up, plus some others.
 
DeltaMac

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,459
4,407
Delaware
Have you tried to repair your keychain?
You can do that from the menu in your Keychain Access utility (Keychain First Aid)
 
H

heycal

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 25, 2013
826
22
DeltaMac said:
Have you tried to repair your keychain?
You can do that from the menu in your Keychain Access utility (Keychain First Aid)
Click to expand...

Just tried that. Said everything was fine, and verified. What would I be repairing anyway?

There must be some way to avoid having to enter a password every time. Does anyone know specifically what needs to be done?
 
DeltaMac

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,459
4,407
Delaware
Repairing the keychain CAN be helpful.
That process, not surprisingly, repairs your keychain.
It doesn't always find something to repair, as in your situation.

Found some other answers here: http://superuser.com/questions/610677/os-x-keychain-wont-stop-popping-up

I expect that the tip to delete your login keychain (using the Keychain Access window) will solve your issue.
Keep in mind that when you delete your keychain, a new keychain will be created, so your system may ask for your password a few more times, then that should mostly stop - except for rare occasions when you add something new to your keychain.
 
H

heycal

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 25, 2013
826
22
I think I got it working now without password prompts. Thanks for the help, folks!
 
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