SOLVED: Mac Keeps Asking for Keychain “Local Items” Password

Kevin ArrowsUpdated on March 29, 2024
Kevin is a certified Network Engineer

Keychain Access is a feature built into Mac’s that stores and saves all the passwords. It is a system password manager and contains the passwords for almost all of your Mac-based applications such as auto-fill passwords from Safari, SMTP, IMAP, POP passwords from Mac Mail, etc. Keychain Access is critical to the functioning of a Mac OS and if it’s corrupted it can become annoying and disrupt the use of a Mac.

Many users have reported getting repeated and continuous prompts from Keychain to key in the password to be used for Local Items. This issue usually arises after an update to your OS X and causes the Keychain Cache to go corrupt.

The issue can be resolved by following the methods below.

Clear Keychain’s from Terminal

Open Finder. Choose Go -> Utilities. Locate Terminal and Open It. In Terminal, type the following command:

cd ~/Library/Keychains and Press ENTER

then type ls and press ENTER to list the contents of the Keychains directory. You will see a long string with random numbers.

Type rm -rf type, first, three, letter or numbers as you see and press the TAB key to get the full name of the folder. Press ENTER. Repeat the steps, if there is more then one folder of this type.

wants to use the local items keychain

Once done, reboot your Mac OS and test to see if the issue has been resolved.

Reset iCloud KeyChain

If the method above did not work, then go to Finder -> Go -> Utilities -> Keychain Access. Lock the Keychain by clicking the lock icon located on the top left. Then click the lock again to unlock it, if prompted to type a password, key in your OS X Administrator password and then choose Reset My iCloud KeyChain

keychain access local items

Kevin ArrowsUpdated on March 29, 2024
Kevin is a certified Network Engineer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Kevin Arrows


Kevin Arrows is a highly experienced and knowledgeable technology specialist with over a decade of industry experience. He holds a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification and has a deep passion for staying up-to-date on the latest tech developments. Kevin has written extensively on a wide range of tech-related topics, showcasing his expertise and knowledge in areas such as software development, cybersecurity, and cloud computing. His contributions to the tech field have been widely recognized and respected by his peers, and he is highly regarded for his ability to explain complex technical concepts in a clear and concise manner.

Comments

38
    JL
    João Victor Luchesi Apr 30, 2017

    Wow it really works..
    Thanks to take your time …

    Reply
      KA
      K. Arrows Author May 3, 2017

      welcome

      Reply
    WH
    Will Haire May 27, 2017

    Thank You. This was driving me crazy!

    Reply
    FK
    Faraz Karari Jun 21, 2017

    thank you, that worked, you are awesome

    Reply
    HT
    Hernanto Tanadi Jun 27, 2017

    Thank you for the help, it worked and helped me, you great

    Reply
      KA
      K. Arrows Author Jul 14, 2017

      Cool.

      Reply
    RO
    robrecord Jul 6, 2017

    Erm… no thanks! Delete all my keychains? This sounds like bad advice. Reassurance please, like what is this actually doing?

    Reply
      KA
      K. Arrows Author Jul 6, 2017

      Let me know if you come across a different method to fix this.

      Reply
      KA
      K. Arrows Author Jul 6, 2017

      It will clear the keychains password, you will need to set them up again such as (email password, if you are using macmail)

      Reply
        CJ
        Chris Jackson Jan 11, 2018

        I did the 1st step above “Clear keychains from Terminal” and now all the “secure notes” have disappeared…. HELP ??

        Actually fixed this now,,, did not know -r is a delete command but for some reason it was renamed so disappeared from the keychain… i’ve located it and dragged it back in.

        Reply
        CR
        Criminy Oct 18, 2019

        You’re suggesting deleting all our passwords to fix something with Adobe? Hard pass.

        Reply
          SW
          Shane Warren Author Oct 19, 2019

          “This worked and caused no problems. I lost no saved passwords. Simply fixed the login problem post the software update.” A User’s comment on the forum. It doesn’t delete the passwords according to the user feedback.

    JC
    Jo Cooke Jul 9, 2017

    Hi, neither of these work for me. When I try to reset my keychain password it just says try entering your information again. Please help I desperately need my Mac to work!

    Reply
    G
    G Jul 14, 2017

    Completing this method…do you lose all of your saved passwords (email/online browser access) within any given keychain??

    Reply
    D
    Dany _ Aug 11, 2017

    Thank you so much!!!!!

    Reply
    JR
    Jane Rivers Sep 14, 2017

    Thank you, sir! This has been driving me nuts for months. The first method worked perfectly.

    Reply
    GC
    Giancarlo Cruz Nov 3, 2017

    Hello!
    I have automatic access to my iCloud account through Safari. When i choose find my iphone it asks me for my password. The problem is i don’t have that password. How can i locate it on my Mac??? Already tried Keychain Utility and no passwords appear.
    Thank you!

    Reply
      KA
      K. Arrows Author Nov 7, 2017

      You can view the saved passwords on your Safari for the auto fill.

      Reply
        GC
        Giancarlo Cruz Nov 7, 2017

        They don’t show up. I ask the question on this thread because i had to reset the MacBook Pro password and now the old Keychain password does not match with the new (reset) password.

        I open Safari and have access to iCloud but when i got to Find My iPhone it asks me for a password which i do not have.

        The autofill is empty. Is there a way to see it through Terminal?

        Reply
          KA
          K. Arrows Author Nov 7, 2017

          try security find-internet-password -gs http://www.icloud.com

          GC
          Giancarlo Cruz Nov 18, 2017

          Nope.

    AN
    Ann Nov 7, 2017

    Where is Reset My iCloud KeyChain??

    Reply
      KA
      K. Arrows Author Nov 7, 2017

      please see the gif in the article

      Reply
    DA
    Dar Adorno Dec 19, 2017

    I used it. It fixed the problem immediately, and so far I have no problems with previously saved passwords, etc.

    Reply
    IM
    Imran Dec 21, 2017

    Worked great for me! Thank you so much!!

    Reply
    KH
    Kay Hafeez Jan 23, 2018

    It worked!! Thank you 🙂

    Reply
    MA
    Mahendran Feb 6, 2018

    I have followed First one. It fixed for me. Thank you.

    Reply
    RB
    Ryan Bongiorno Mar 13, 2018

    This worked and caused no problems. I lost no saved passwords. Simply fixed the login problem post the software update.

    Reply
    CM
    Christopher Milligan Sep 6, 2018

    Every 20 seconds or so, a pop-up message says autosd needs my Keychain password. I recently followed my VPN’s advice to reset my Keychain, because I was having problems with their app. Now I have this pain in neck message constantly. Should I reset again??

    Reply
    
     ʎppɐpʎɹɐuıq  Oct 3, 2018

    NOTE FOR AD ENVIRONMENTS! This solution works flawlessly for me as described above with my home Macs, no issues! However, for AD environments where any of your keychains become corrupted (usually after changing your AD password), you have to delete ALL files listed in terminal for that folder as many are associated with Domain Users. The only files that cannot be deleted and should be left are those with “.” and “..” as the names. All others should be deleted, then reboot and upon login, users will simply have to reenter their AD password when prompted for various network resources and previously saved passwords associated with Local Items. However, once iCloud is reestablished (if used), any saved info from iCloud Keychain will repopulate automatically. Happy Fixing!

    Reply
    SW
    Shane Warren Author Sep 24, 2019

    Have you reset the keychains as indicated in the article?

    Reply
    T
    Tim Z. Aug 26, 2020

    Kevin, what do I do if I don’t know the OS X administrator password for the login keychain. It won’t let me do anything without the password for the login keychain on my mac.

    Reply
      SW
      Shane Warren Author Aug 27, 2020

      I’m afraid in order to proceed ahead you will need the administrator’s password, can you ask the admin of the computer to put it in for you?

      Reply
    AU
    Annoyed Mac User Jun 11, 2021

    “Type rm -rf type, first, three, letter or numbers as you see and press the TAB key to get the full name of the folder.” is not a sentence that makes sense.

    Reply
      MZ
      Muhammad Zubyan Author Jun 13, 2021

      Check the GIF Animation to get a better Idea of what we are talking about.

      Reply
    JE
    John Eriksson Sep 7, 2021

    Deleting the user keychain is no use, “Local Items” is not even the user login keychain. In there might be important passwords and certificates needed for the user.Moving other files in /Library/Keychains/ to another location solved the problem. Restart. If problem is gone, make sure iCloud sync works and if needed you can open the moved keychains with keychain access application to rescue needed information / certificated.

    Reply
    YD
    ydnartitcomb Dec 8, 2021

    Using terminal with your suggestion has worked for me, thank you

    Reply
    KN
    Karl Ninh Apr 6, 2022

    Simply deleting one directory as described in first step worked for me on a MacBook Pro running macOS Monterey 12.3.1 on corporate AD. Did not have to reset SMB to get my TouchID to work again after domain password change following an upgrade from macOS 12.2 to 12.3.

    Reply