“Accountsd wants to use the login keychain“
What is ‘accountsd’?
A part of the computer Accounts Frameworks is the Accounts database, abbreviated as accountsd. The login credentials of the apps and services available on Mac are started by accountsd. The app developers need access to build accounts in the app, and the Accounts Framework serves the purpose rightly by granting permission but not sharing the owner’s username or password in any way. This builds end-to-end encryption.
To be able to monitor with efficiency, the Accounts Framework needs a gateway to access the ‘login’ keychain which in turn is responsible to manage the login credentials like username and password of the apps being operated on Mac. For instance, the email account uses the email server which needs a password for login. If the login keychain does not have the password saved, then every time you try to open your account, you will be nagged for entering password for the same.
Why does the problem ‘accountsd wants to use the login keychain’ occur?
One good reason that you keep seeing this popup “accountsd wants to use the login keychain” is because the login or keychain is locked. This can be fixed by simply unlocking the login by going to the keychain preferences menu. Select the ‘applications’ from the options that appear, then go to the ‘utilities’ followed by the option ‘keychain’. Following these steps, you can unlock the keychain and get rid of the continuous pop-ups of “accountsd wants to use the login keychain”.
What should be done to fix ‘accountsd wants to use the login keychain’?
When the login credentials do not sync with the login keychain, these kinds of pops start coming up. To resolve this annoying issue, you will have to follow some steps in order to remove or fix the problem and you can carry out the work on Mac effortlessly.
1. Step-by-step guideline if old password is known:
Step 1: Go to the keychain preferences menu. Select the ‘applications’ from the options that appear, then go to the ‘utilities’ followed by the option ‘keychain’. Double click on the ‘keychain’ to launch it.
Step 2: Then, tap on the ‘edit’ menu and choose the ‘Change Password’ to proceed further for keychain ‘login’.
Step 3: Enter the previous user password for your account to unlock the keychain. A window should appear if the entered password is correct.
Applications → Utilities → Keychain → Edit → Change Password.
Step 4: The new window that opens up has three fields to be filled up. Enter the old password that you used to open your account to unlock the keychain. Then fill up the second field with a new password following the password set instructions. Then re-type the new password in the third field to confirm and verify.
Step 5: Click ‘OK’ when done and exit the ‘Keychain’ access.
Following these simple steps would synchronise the login keychain, including username and password of your account and you shall witness no pop-out messages later.
If you remember the password, it becomes a hassle-free process to get done with. But in certain conditions, when you do not remember the password, or you are using a second hand device and the earlier password is not known to you, then the Accounts Framework would ask you to create a new login keychain.
Resetting a password does not remove the old keychain and barely touches the account details or related passwords. So, that is not something to be worried about at all. You can copy the necessary credentials to the new keychain with ease. Ensure that you make a copy of your existing login keychain before creating a new login keychain. The new login keychain enables you to set the same password as your user account.
2. Step-by-step guideline if the password is forgotten:
Step 1: Go to the keychain preferences menu. Select the ‘applications’ from the options that appear, then go to the ‘utilities’ followed by the option ‘keychain’. Double click on the ‘Keychain Access’ to launch it.
Step 2: In the ‘Keychain Access’ menu and choose ‘Preferences’.
Step 3: Navigate the mouse to the ‘First Aid’ tab. Also check if the ‘Synchronise login keychain password’ is turned on.
Applications → Utilities → Keychain Access → First Aid.
Step 4: Now you can close the ‘Preferences’ window.
Step 5: Go to the ‘Keychain Access’ menu and choose ‘Keychain First Aid’.
Step 6: Enter the login credentials and click on the ‘Repair’ button.
If you are still stuck, then you can start over by completely deleting the keychain and creating it again. This way can be opted if the keychain is found to be corrupt or inaccessible because of some other means.
Step 1: Go to the keychain preferences menu. Select the ‘applications’ from the options that appear, then go to the ‘utilities’ followed by the option ‘keychain’. Double click on the ‘Keychain Access’ to launch it.
Step 2: Tap on the ‘Show Keychains’ from the menu and select the problematic keychain from there.
Step 3: Navigate the mouse to the ‘File’ menu and select ‘Delete Keychain’ for the selected keychain. Click ‘OK’.
Applications → Utilities → Keychain Access → Show Keychains → File → Delete Keychain → OK
Step 4: Now you can create a new keychain from the ‘File’ menu, then tap on the ‘New’, then go to the ‘New Keychain’.
Step 5: The new keychain can be set as default by going to the ‘File’ menu and selecting ‘Make (Keychain name) Default’. menu and choose ‘Keychain First Aid’.
File → New → New Keychain → Make Default.
3. Step-by-step guideline if the password is unknown:
Step 1: Go to the ‘Finder’ and look for the ‘Go’ from the menu and follow the arrowhead to choose ‘Go to Folder’ from the options that appear.
Step 2: Then, ‘Desktop’, ‘Documents’, ‘Downloads’, ‘Google Drive’, ‘Library’, ‘Movies’, ‘Music’, and ‘Pictures’ appear. Tap on the ‘Library’ from those. Then choose the ‘Keychains’ to proceed further.
Step 3: Look for the login keychain and hit the ‘Alt/Option’ key. Bring the file on to your desktop folder.
Step 4: Press and select the name of the copied file on the Desktop folder. Use a different name to replace the ‘login’.
Step 5: Reset the default keychain:
Step 5.1: Select the ‘applications’ from the options that appear, then go to the ‘utilities’ followed by the option ‘keychain’. Double click on the ‘keychain’ to launch it.
Step 5.2: Then, tap on the ‘Keychain Access’ menu and choose ‘Preferences’.
Step 5.3: Select ‘Reset My Default Keychains’.
Applications → Utilities → Keychain Access → Preferences → Reset My Default Keychains.
As has been mentioned before, the Keychain Access creates a new login for ‘login’ keychains and iCloud keychains. The same password as your user account is given to all your user accounts then.
Step 6: Adding the keychain:
Step 6.1: Under the ‘Keychain Access’, look for the ‘File’ menu and from the options that appear, choose the ‘Add Keychain’.
Step 6.2: Then, select the keychain file located on your desktop folder. You will find a series of keychains in the sidebar of the ‘Keychain Access’. It contains all the login id and passwords in it. Press Add.
Step 6.3: To copy an item from the imported keychain to the new login keychain, select the item, right-click on it and select ‘Copy’. Go to the new default keychain, and ‘Paste’ the item on the main window.
Note: Old items can not be copied to the new iCloud Keychain. It gets automatically synchronized later.
4. Turning on iCloud Keychain for Mac:
With iCloud Keychain, it is easy to import the old log in and passwords into the new one. The old ones also get automatically synchronized. But if the case is not so, then each time prompted, you will have to enter the credentials as and when required to store in the new login keychain. If you are wondering about the use of iCloud Keychain if you have not started using it already, then you can get it by following these steps.
Step-by-step guideline to turn on the iCloud Keychain:
Step 1: Go to the ‘Apple’ menu and look for the ‘System Preferences’ from the drop-down menu.
Step 2: Select ‘iCloud’
Step 2.1: For older versions: go to the main ‘System Preferences’ and select the iCloud pane.
Step 2.2: For new versions: Click on Apple ID and next on iCloud.
Step 3: Look for the ‘Keychain’ and then click on ‘Quit System Preferences’.
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