Keychain app disappeared after repair

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Spencejam1 Author

Level 1

13 points

Keychain app disappeared after repair

Hello,

I is there any way to re-install the Keychain app on my Mini (late 2012, Catalina 10.15.5 (19F101))?

Thanks, JS

Mac mini, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 6, 2020 4:56 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

mario49

Community Specialist

Aug 10, 2020 7:21 AM in response to Spencejam1

JS,

Sounds like you're referring to the Keychain Access app that you should find in Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access. If you're not seeing that at all, you may need to reinstall the macOS since this is part of the OS. Reinstalling the macOS will not remove any of your data. Check out: How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery for steps on how to do this.

Take care!

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Answer 2

Trish313

Community Specialist

Aug 9, 2020 1:16 PM in response to Spencejam1

Hi JS,

Thanks for posting! Sounds like you'd like to turn iCloud keychain on for you Mac, do we have that right? If so, this article may help:

Set up iCloud Keychain.

If you're referring to Keychain Access, this should be in the Application > Utilities folder. If you don't see it there, use Spotlight to search for the app and see if it has been moved:

Use Spotlight on your Mac

If you're getting an error message asking for your login keychain password, this article should help:

If your Mac keeps asking for the login keychain password.

Hope this helps!

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Answer 3

Ronasara

Level 6

15,543 points

Aug 10, 2020 4:39 PM in response to Spencejam1

Something is not right. As noted, the Keychain app is part of the Mac OS. And you have Catalina installed. There is no way, with Catalina, to remove any of the Mac system's apps since they are located in the Read Only portion of your HD. Side note, they can be manually removed only by starting up the computer from an external drive and then removing it. But who would do that, and why?

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Answer 4

Spencejam1 Author

Level 1

13 points

Aug 9, 2020 11:26 PM in response to Trish313

This helped insofar as activating iCloud Keychain, but a problem remains: I cannot view my passwords as before.

On my other Mac devices, there is a Keychain app, that is accessible in the Apps folder. This disappeared from my computer - Also, I should have mentioned: when the Keychain app disappeared, I also lost the tags and ability to search my docs in Spotlight.

Thanks for your earlier reply - hope this gives you another clue.

Regards,

JS

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Answer 5

Spencejam1 Author

Level 1

13 points

Aug 11, 2020 6:28 AM in response to mario49

This certainly didn't hurt!

When I sent my computer for repair, I had Keychain access on my Dock. It was gone from the Dock when I got it back, but now it is definitely in the folder where you said I would find it, after I performed the re-installation.

Thanks!

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Answer 6

Spencejam1 Author

Level 1

13 points

Aug 11, 2020 6:35 AM in response to Ronasara

Hello Ronasara,

Yes, something is amiss: I don't think it is nefarious, however, since I haven't had any issues concerning credit cards, etc. When they repaired the computer they switched out some part of the hardware, so I believe it was inadvertently done.

Even though I have re-established the presence of the Keychain Access, Spotlight continues not to work in searching iCloud or folders in my Home directory, on my hard disk, etc. Also all my tags are unusable on my desktop Mac. Any ideas on how to get those working again? Btw, I know the tags are still somewhere, because I can use them on my iPad when I go into my iCloud files.

Cheers,

JS

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Keychain app disappeared after repair

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