Fix “Accountsd Wants to Use the Login Keychain” Mac Message

Are you constantly receiving the notification stating “accountsd wants access to the login keychain”? You are not the only one.

However, specific indications may suggest that something is amiss. These include the recurrent appearance of messages, such as “accountsd wants to use the login keychain” and “callservicesd wants to use the login” on your screen.

Continue reading to discover the purpose behind your Mac’s request for the accountsd login keychain message and explore distinct methods to resolve it.

What is Accountsd?

The term “accountsd” should be interpreted as “accounts d,” with the “d” representing “daemon.” A daemon refers to a tool that operates persistently as a background operation on your device. This background operation lets you log in to various applications and services using usernames and passwords saved on your Mac.

The ‘accountsd notification’ likely indicates a synchronization issue between your login password and keychain passwords.

What is the Keychain?

Keychains serve as repositories for login credentials and other confidential data. It assists in memorizing and organizing passwords while safeguarding sensitive information like credit card details and bank account information.

Keychains are securely kept and encrypted, ensuring that only you can access them. Upon logging into your account, the tool decodes the keychain and utilizes the stored information to facilitate your login process.

While there’s a looming threat of someone breaking the keychain data, many individuals still find keychains convenient.

Reasons Why the “Accountsd Wants To Use The Login Keychain” Message Appears on Your Mac

Upon setting up a user account on your Mac, the passwords for your login and login keychain are synchronized. This manipulation allows the login keychain to be readily accessible by systems that require access while you are logged into your account.

If your login and keychain passwords fall out of sync, the systems attempting to access your keychain may encounter difficulties and consequently prompt for permission. Such a situation can occur if you, or an administrator on your Mac, modify your login password. When you come across the message “accountsd wants to use the login keychain,” it serves as an indication that the passwords for your login and keychain are no longer synchronized.

In general, there are three main reasons for the keychain issue:

• The accountsd daemon might attempt to access the login keychain, but it lacks the necessary permissions to do so.
• There exist multiple user accounts on your Mac.
• You have recently updated your passwords.

Ways to Fix the “Accountsd Wants To Use the Login Keychain” Mac Message

To resolve the synchronization error that triggers the appearance of the “accountsd wants to use the login keychain,” follow these steps:

1. Enter your login keychain (either your keychain password or your account password) in the provided text box within the tooltip window.
2. Click OK.

Following those steps will resynchronize your keychain and account information, enabling the accounts daemon to operate smoothly without encountering any additional issues.

If you find that the “accountsd wants to use the login keychain” message keeps appearing intermittently, disabling the auto-lock feature in Keychain Access can work. This action will help prevent recurring syncing problems.

While this action will compromise the security of your keychain to some extent, if your Mac is not frequently moved or accessed by multiple individuals, it should not pose a significant issue.

1. Disable Keychain Auto-Lock

Proceed with the following steps to disable keychain auto-lock:

• Navigate to your Applications folder and locate the Utilities directory. Proceed to double-click on Keychain Access to initiate the application.

• In the section labeled Default Keychains, perform right-click on the Login option. Go to the Change Settings for the Keychain option.

• Deselect the checkboxes for Lock after X minutes of inactivity and Lock when sleeping.

• Click Save.

Another possible cause of syncing problems could be errors with the iCloud Keychain. Disabling this feature might resolve the accountsd prompts.

2. Deactivate iCloud Keychain

To deactivate iCloud Keychain:

• Navigate to System Preferences (or System Settings), and click on Apple ID.
• Choose the iCloud tab.

• Click on the Keychain button, disable the toggle, and click Done.

• Reboot your Mac.

• Once the accountsd login keychain prompts cease appearing, the syncing problem has been resolved. At that point, you can proceed to reactivate iCloud Keychain by reselecting its checkbox within the Apple ID System Preferences.

If the previous instructions fail to eliminate the “accountsd wants to use the login keychain” error prompt or if you are unable to recall the correct login keychain password, there are broader measures you can undertake to address the syncing problem.

3. Generate a Fresh Login Keychain

If the previous method is unsuccessful, the subsequent step involves generating a new login keychain. Rest assured, macOS preserves your existing keychain along with its passwords and account information, allowing you to transfer them to the new keychain. Upon creating a new login keychain, it will be assigned the same password as your user account. However, before doing so, creating a duplicate of your current login keychain is essential.

To create a new login keychain, proceed with the following steps:

• Within the Finder, navigate to the Go menu and select the Go to Folder option.

• Type: ~/Library/Keychains

• Find the login keychain and hold down the Option key while dragging the file onto your Desktop.

• Click and hold on the name of the copied file on your Desktop until the name is selected. Replace Login with a different name.

4. Reset the Default Keychains

If the accountsd issue persists even after initiating a new keychain, reset your default keychain password, essentially resetting your login keychain completely. It’s important to note that this action will result in deleting all your stored credentials from your Mac, so it should only be considered a last resort. However, it is expected to resolve your synchronization problems definitively.

To reset your default login keychain, follow these steps:

• Navigate to the Applications folder, proceed to the Utilities subfolder and launch Keychain Access.

• Select the Settings option from the Keychain Access menu.

• Click on the Reset My Default Keychains button.

Keychain Access will generate new, empty login and iCloud keychains, both assigned with your user account’s password.

Wrapping Up

Now you know that the ‘accountsd wants to use the login keychain’ error is a relatively minor issue on your device. It indicates that certain passwords have become unsynchronized, requiring manual input to facilitate a background process. There is no need to worry as this can be easily resolved.

If the issue persists and does not resolve quickly, we are confident that one of our suggested answers will eventually eliminate it.

We understand that resetting your keychain can be frustrating, requiring re-saving your passwords. However, if it resolves the ‘accountsd wants to use the login keychain’ error, it might be the most beneficial course of action.

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