Password icon is missing after iOS 18 update on my iPhone

ChileD wrote:

This answer does NOT address what happened to the Apple password icon in Settings (creating a total panic). We are not talking about third-party password apps.

What answer? I'm not sure what the confusion is? When iOS 18 was released, they made changes to several areas within iOS. One change was to remove Passwords from Settings and move Passwords into its own App. The moment you downloaded iOS 18, the app was placed on your last home screen. It holds ALL the passwords you had access to when it was still in Settings.

This is not a 3rd party Password app. It is Apple's Password app.

If you are on iOS 18, there is not setting for Passwords in Settings anymore. It is its own app and any of the passwords you have when it was in Settings, have been moved to the app itself. When you downloaded iOS 18, the app would have been downloaded to the last page of home page apps you have on your phone. It is an App with three keys on it.

Doufly2 wrote:

iPhone 14 upgrade to iPhone 18 has obliterated any faith I ever had in Apple. Not only can I not find SETTINGS where I used to find my PASSWORDS, but the Community is suggesting I GO TO SETTINGS to fix this — but my SETTINGS access is no longer there.

Why can’t Apple have APPLE people help instead of having their customers do their patching up for them? I have HAD it with Apple!

This has always been a user to user only forum. If you want Apple to help you, then contact Apple. If you're in the US, you can call them at: 800-MY-APPLE. You can use the Support button on the bottom left of this page. You can schedule an appointment at your Apple Store Genius Bar. You have many options to get help from Apple.

I don't understand why you can't find the new Passwords App on your iPhone? It was delivered to ALL iPhones when anyone updated to IOS 18. For the vast majority, it was placed on the last page of apps you have on your phone. Do you know how to swipe between your Home Screen pages? You can swipe from right to left until you arrive at the App Library and look for the Passwords app there. If it's there, you can hold your finger on it and move it to any home page you want. You can swipe from the middle of your screen down to bring Spotlight Search and type Passwords in the search bar, and it should show the icon with three keys in it.

Passwords is now an app and you can access it from your home screen like any other app. The icon has three different color keys on it.

If you can't find it on your homescreen, swipe all the way to the right to get to the App Library. Look in the App Library for the app and drag it back to your homescreen.

"they should put it back the way it was on the next update!"

No they shouldn't.

Success2028 wrote:

To those concerned about the password icon missing when you go to settings after you downloaded the ios18 update . The update provided a password tile on your phone screen page. Scroll through your page and you will see a tile on your Home Screen page that says passwords. Click on it. You will then have access to all of your passwords.

Thank you fore repeating what has been said dozens of times in this thread; you made a meaningful contribution because so few people actually read a thread before posting to it. I mean it seriously.

digdzine wrote:

It’s more work! What nincompoop thought this was helpful?! Apple, please put it back as it was! When things ain’t broke, don’t fix them!🤯

The EU, who said that SmartPhone providers cannot give preference to their proprietary apps over 3rd party apps. So Passwords was moved from the Settings app to a standalone app on the Home screen. And if you go to Settings/Apps at the top you can see where you can choose Apple’s Passwords app, or any other password manager you may want to install.

And how on earth is tapping an icon on the home screen (1 action) more work than tapping Settings, then scrolling down to Passwords, then tapping passwords (3 actions)?

If you have iOS 18 there is an APP with the name Passwords on your Home screen. It replaces the inconvenient, hard to get to Passwords link in the Settings app. If you can’t find it go to the App Library, tap on the Search box and search for “Passwords”. When it appears drag it to where you want it on your Home screen. This is the icon for it:

Akbansmok wrote:

I tried what you suggested. Settings, stroll to bottom to apps, click on to your item for passwords. Doesn’t show password, just location, Face ID, Siri ampnd etc. no passwords

Good reason you didn't find it there. Its' an actual app, which when you updated to iOS 18, was automatically deposited to the last page of your home screen apps. Look for the App which says Passwords, with 3 keys in it.

Liiisaane19 wrote:

I can’t find my saved passwords on new update 18.

Find and open the Passwords app.

This is the icon:

if this is an iPhone, the Passwords app will be in your app library on the last page of apps, if nowhere else.

Here is how to: Use passwords on iPhone - Apple Support

carolfromhuffman wrote:

There are no passwords there I had to ask Siri to find my passwords, but still can’t figure out where she accessed them

Here is a guide around how to use the Passwords app on an iPhone with iOS 18:

Use passwords on iPhone - Apple Support

The icon for the Passwords app looks like this:

Here is the guide page for finding an existing password:

Find your password for a website or app on iPhone - Apple Support

There are other sections for the Passwords app in the table of contents for the guide:

Again, this is all in the (new) Passwords app, and not the list that was formerly available in the Settings app.

Select All Passwords, and view what is included.

If you're not using iCloud Keychain already, consider enabling that, too.

Set up iCloud Keychain - Apple Support

iCloud Keychain will allow your passwords to be available across and synchronized across all devices logged into the same Apple Account.

S150F wrote:

Password icon missing and passwords missing from settings

If you have iOS 18 there is an APP with the name Passwords on your Home screen. It replaces the inconvenient, hard to get to Passwords link in the Settings app. If you can’t find it go to the App Library, tap on the Search box and search for “Passwords”. When it appears drag it to where you want it on your Home screen. This is the icon for it:

JustJokesUSA wrote:

I don’t see the passwords app in my phone using the instructions you gave

If you have iOS 18 there is an APP with the name Passwords on your Home screen. It replaces the inconvenient, hard to get to Passwords link in the Settings app. If you can’t find it go to the App Library, tap on the Search box and search for “Passwords”. When it appears drag it to where you want it on your Home screen. This is the icon for it:

Michael817 wrote:

What happened to my passwords on my iPhone after updating to iOS 18. There’s no more password icon on my phone it’s like all my passwords have been wiped clean off my phone

If you are (or were) running a third-party password management app, you will want to check with the app vendor.

Unfortunately for these cases, some third-party password apps, and some third-party secret-photos apps, have had an unfortunate habit of disappearing at iOS and iPadOS updates, as the third-party app vendor has withdrawn support for the app. Quite possibly without notice, too.

Access to these passwords stored in a third-party app might be retained on older Apple devices limited to running older iOS or iPadOS versions, where an abandoned or problematic app can potentially remain functional, and a migration or at least password-data or secret-photo-data export becomes feasible.

For the Apple password management, Apple preserves users’ passwords stored in Keychain locally, or stored in iCloud Keychain when enabled.

The existing Apple password-related user interface here — which was a mixture of Settings > Passwords, Keychain Access, Safari, and some other tools — has been consolidated into Passwords app across iPhone, iPad, and macOS.

Apple is incrementing migrating passwords and related stores to better security (using the so-called data protection keychain) as well, which has had some effects for Mac users familiar with Keychain Access features:

• Migrating Keychain Access secure notes to… - Apple Community

ChileD wrote:

This answer does NOT address what happened to the Apple password icon in Settings (creating a total panic). We are not talking about third-party password apps.

The current top-ranking reply above addresses both the third-party password apps that all too often brick themselves or disappear entirely at updates, and also addresses the arrival of the Apple Passwords app that has become available on iPhone, iPad, and macOS.

Why both? Which of those two cases was being referenced by the original post was unclear to me — prior to the Passwords app, the Apple passwords mechanisms didn’t have an app icon, but third-party password apps do — hence a reply that addressed both interpretations of the question. (And we usually find out about some new bricked or discontinued third-party password app by folks posting “where’s my passwords?” threads.)

As for changes “creating a total panic”, that concern is certainly understandable, though Apple has a long history of shuffling stuff around at big updates. In this reshuffling, passwords and passkeys storage, password security recommendations, and the integrated two-factor support all got reworked and combined into one app on each platform, and with some substantial improvements to the underlying keychain storage accompanying the new app.

Here is the Passwords app info for iPhone: Use passwords on iPhone - Apple Support

Apple usually provides an overview of the major changes in each new releases; a map of what got added, and what got shuffled. Here is the overview of the major new iOS features, including the Passwords app: What’s new in iOS 18 - Apple Support

I usually skim both the new features overview and then skim the whole users guide as various new features don’t make the overview, but that’s admittedly more reading than some would prefer. Apropos, the iOS 18 user’s guide does have a section on the Passwords app, too. Here is that user guide: iPhone User Guide - Apple Support

Sweorfan wrote:

Don’t mind changes, but what I do mind is that I must hunt to find a feature I use every day. Plus, I have to click more icons to get to Passwords — instead of just one.

This change makes no sense.

If this is Apple’s effort to deter bad actors from finding Passwords, any criminally-minded person will know how to get to my passwords much better than I do.

This ‘update’ only hamstrings users.

Thought what Apple strives for in their iPhones is ease of use.

Hope Apple rethinks this very poor ‘update’ and restores the Password icon on the first screen in Settings.

I couldn't disagree more. Apple actually simplified where to look for your passwords with you having to use less steps to get to them.

The old way:

1. Open your iPhone
2. Tap the Settings App
3. Scan down to Keychain/Passwords
4. Tap it
5. Look for the password you want

The new way:

1. Open your iPhone
2. Tap the Passwords app
3. Look for the password you want

You could make it so easy to find the Password app by placing the app in your Dock, where it will always be on your first page and easy to find.

It's a change, yes. But had you read the list of new features, which were clearly published with the iOS 18 update, you'd have known your passwords were now in the new app. Or did you just install the iOS 18 update without spending any time looking at the list of changes Apple Provided on the update page?