So I love using Safari to browse the Internet, but one little quirk that I kept running across was that some websites I load which require a username and password to not get saved into Keychain.
Keychain, for those of you who don’t, is the utility on OS X that stores all your login information for websites, email programs, etc. In Windows, Internet Explorer can also save your passwords for websites. but it’s all stored locally inside IE.
On Macs, when you visit a website and Safari asks you if you want to save your username and password, it’s actually stored in the Keychain utility. Now most of the time, you’ll get asked if you want to save login info, but sometimes you won’t!
I had several websites that I visited constantly and kept retyping all my login information because Safari would not save it for me. I finally decided to stop being lazy and just do it manually.
In this article, I’ll walk you through the simple steps to get Safari to remember a password for a particular website. First, click on the Applications folder on your desktop and then click Utilities.
Then click on the Keychain Access button.
On the left hand side, click on login under Keychains.
Now click the + (plus) icon down at the very bottom of the window. It’s below the list box that shows you all the current items in the keychain.
Now all you have to do is enter three pieces of information: the website, the username and the password. It should look something like this:
You can also click on the little key icon next to the password box and it will bring up the password assistant. It can help you create a strong password that is easy to remember.
Of course, if you already have a password for that particular site, you really don’t need the password assistant. Now that’s it! Go ahead and close Keychain and open Safari. Go to the website and begin typing the username. A message will pop up:
Safari will ask you if you will allow it access to confidential information stored in “website name” in your keychain. Go ahead and click Always Allow and now whenever you visit the website, just start typing the first letter of the username and it’ll automatically fill in the rest! Enjoy!
A very good guide, however the window message won’t pop up !.
Everything is good until the end when this doesn't work – the message doesn't pop up asking if I want to save the password nor does it fill anything in….my passwords are stored for everything else with no problem except for one website that I use several times a day. I tried this once before and it shows all the info in the keychain, so I deleted it and started again but it still doesn't work. Any suggestions? thanks!!!
Me too, No massage pop up, then, I have to retype these over again ! Help !
Same comment as George and Connie – how is this supposed to work?
It would work for me either.. a different way is to press the Safari button at the top and select preferences, then press autofill and tick the box. When you next go to a website that requires a username/ password it will ask if you want to remember it.. select yes..
Very clear explanation but it does not work at the end. All the information is in the keychain but the pop up box in safari does not appear. Any suggestions?
George and Connie,
I thought I had the same problem. The solution is that you have to type in
the username and password again, when you have finished and hit tab
the 'save' box pops up asking if you want to save, just tick, and your good to go.
Make sure under Safari|Preferences|AutoFill that "User name and passwords is checked".
After doing what this page says and with Safari opened, click on "Safari" button (on the top left of the screen next to the Apple icon). Choose "Preferences", click "Autofill" and click the option in the middle "User names and passwords". That should work
It still doesn’t work. All info is in keychain, but the prompt never appears to ask if I want to save the PW. The prompt just doesn’t ever appear for some websites. I have “User name and passwords” checked but it still doesn’t work. any suggestions?
Great, worked for me.
Now, how can I get this to work on my iPad?
Doesn’t work
Should say “Don’t bother with a crud browser like safari and simply use firefox”
Worked on firefox no probs.