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When using the Keychain Access app, I am often unable to delete an Web form password item. I have tried hitting the delete key and going to Edit > Delete. In both cases, nothing happens, there is no error message.

I can delete the item if I use the command line version of the tool:

$ security find-internet-password -a "[email protected]"
keychain: "/Users/simon/Library/Keychains/woodside-mbp.keychain"
version: 256
class: "inet"
attributes:
    0x00000007 <blob>="daw.apple.com ([email protected])"
    0x00000008 <blob>=<NULL>
    "acct"<blob>="[email protected]"
    "atyp"<blob>="form"
    ...
$ security delete-internet-password -a "[email protected]"
keychain: "/Users/simon/Library/Keychains/woodside-mbp.keychain"
version: 256
class: "inet"
attributes:
    0x00000007 <blob>="daw.apple.com ([email protected])"
    0x00000008 <blob>=<NULL>
    "acct"<blob>="[email protected]"
    "atyp"<blob>="form"
    ...
password has been deleted.

If I now redo the search in Keychain Access, the item is gone.

I am running El Capitan 10.11.4 (15E65), Keychain Access Version 9.0 (55171.20.2), and

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2
  • In the Keychain Access application, does the keychain you are trying to delete from (e.g., login, Local Items, or System) show a locked padlock icon next to it? If so, try clicking the padlock icon in the upper-left corner, entering your password, then trying to delete it again. Commented May 26, 2016 at 20:45
  • @PseudoSu: the keychain is unlocked. Commented May 26, 2016 at 21:35

5 Answers 5

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159

I notice you say, "If I now redo the search in Keychain Access…" implying that you began by searching when you weren't able to delete the item. Find it in the list without searching and then delete. It's just a dumb bug. I have found I sometimes can delete a single item after searching, but not multiple, and sometimes there's no problem at all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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  • 40
    I cannot believe this crap. Unbelievable. It just works, they say. THANKS! Commented Jan 8, 2020 at 17:22
  • 3
    This answer still holds true on Big Sur 11.4! Commented Oct 8, 2021 at 17:11
  • 7
    the dumbest bug indeed. come on it's 2021! Commented Nov 16, 2021 at 1:55
  • 5
    I've found that @karmstr7 is right in a different answer: You can delete an item in the search results, but only if you have the correct keychain selected in the left sidebar (the keychain the item actually is stored it, which is listed in a column in the search results). Commented Mar 4, 2022 at 22:23
  • 4
    Ventura 13.3 still exhibits this issue Commented Apr 6, 2023 at 21:39
51

Had the same problem, found that I was able to delete keys once I switched from iCloud to login in the Default Keychains section.

This has helped people on Ventura 13.0 and Monterey 12.6.2

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1
  • Yep. Seems to be a bug which occurs if several conditions are met: (1) login is not selected under Default Keychains when the app is launched, (2) a search is made which shows login items, (3) one or more login items are selected for deletion. As you say, selecting login under Default Keychains snaps the app out of its stupor and it will work from then on. Commented Aug 24, 2024 at 10:22
2

On macOS Monterey, I wasn’t able to follow the other answers to solve a problem removing a login keychain item. Neither OP’s command or the accepted answer worked for me directly, but this Q&A did help in solving the problem.

The tricky part was to find the correct syntax to do so. For my key, the command I needed was

security delete-generic-password -l I0.sparseimage

My guess is that the -l refers to login, as the key I want to delete belongs to the Keychain named login.

The linked thread proposed a different approach, which sadly did not work for me. It suggest not to use the search feature of the Keychain Access App, but instead scroll down manually until a find the desired key. In my case, unfortunately the key to be deleted was not displayed when scrolling through the (sorted) list of keys. I don't know, why this is the case; perhaps another bug.

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1

If the password entry was created while using safari, you will need to delete it in the preferences of safari rather then through the keychain. The entry will be found under the password tab in preferences.

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0

On macOS Monterey 12.6.2, I was able to delete the key from the Keychain Access application from the Default Keychains > iCloud. The full action is:

  1. Open the "Keychain Access" application
  2. Click the iCloud entry in the left panel under Default Keychains
  3. Search for your key through the search bar
  4. Chose your item and right-click, then click the Delete option
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