If you’re switching from LastPass (or any other password manager you’re not happy with), you may want to use the password manager that came with your browser or operating system. This is definitely an easy solution and a reasonable one depending on your point of view. Until recently, third-party password managers were known to be more secure, but as Apple and Google work to make their built-in password managers more secure, Microsoft is adding one to its authentication app. So it may be a suitable choice.
However, one way these built-in password managers can’t stand up to their standalone competitors is how difficult it can be to get pre-existing passwords into their systems.
If you tend to get stuck in the Apple ecosystem, that means using Safari for your passwords and forwarding them to your other devices using Apple’s iCloud Keychain. Here’s how to move your password data to iCloud Keychain.
Make sure you have keychain
iCloud Keychain It’s how Apple syncs your information between devices – not just passwords, but credit card information, Wi-Fi passwords, etc. (If you plan to use your passwords on your mobile iOS device as well, you may want to check from there as well.)
Using a macOS device:
- Go to your System Preferences app by clicking the Apple icon in the top left corner
- If you have macOS Mojave or earlier, click iCloud. Otherwise, choose Apple ID > iCloud.
- Go to the apps list and make sure Keychain is checked.
Using an iOS device:
- Go to Settings and tap your name
- Tap iCloud and go to Keychain
- If Keychain is Off, tap the entry then turn it on
Import your password data
To get your data into Keychain, you need to export it to Safari on your Mac. Simple, right? Not really.
Unfortunately, unlike most password managers, you cannot import passwords from a CSV file into Safari. However, you can import passwords from either. Firefox or Chromium. So, if you have a CSV file from another password manager and your machine doesn’t have any of these browsers, you’ll need to install one of them first and upload your passwords to it. (You can find instructions for importing passwords to Chrome. here and Firefox here.)
After your passwords are imported into one of the other browsers:
- Close other browser
- Open Safari, go to File > Import From and select Chrome or Firefox. You can import Bookmarks, History, Passwords or any combination of these by checking the appropriate boxes.
One note: I had a series of mishaps while trying to import from Firefox to Safari. Safari was crashing all the time, even after making a number of tweaks to Firefox. I finally gave up and tried with Chrome and the import worked immediately. Your mileage may vary.
You can check if the import works by going to the top menu of Safari and choosing Safari > Preferences > Passwords. (You will need to enter your user password to access the password list.) You should see your passwords listed here.
After importing your passwords into Safari, the passwords should be automatically retrieved by iCloud Keychain and can be used on all your approved devices. You can check using Spotlight Search by typing and clicking “Keychain Access”. This should bring up your Keychain app; You can click iCloud in the top left column and “Passwords” in the bottom left to see your imported passwords.