editing internet account passwords on OS X

Hi EdKeller,

For the life of me I could not understand why Apple always does these small irritating things. And to top it, most of the replies are mostly trying to say something else without actually trying to understand at all what you are trying to say. I totally and I mean TOTALLY understand what you are trying to say. To add to that I do not use Keychain. So how in the life of me am I going to add/modify/update the new password that I just updated in my Gmail account.

The only reply that understood the issue and gave a proper working answer was "deleting the account and adding it again". But I refused to go through all that, so I thought there must be a simple way and usually it ends up being an idiotic way.

I tried to remember what happened (in my mac) after I changed my Gmail password. And I remembered getting notified by system preferences not being able to log in to my external accounts and if I wanted to continue (to update/modify it).

So the simple answer to this is restarting your mac and after restart try to opening an app that uses the internet accounts e.g. notes or calendar etc. The notification promptly appears, you then hit "continue" to make the change/update/modify password. VIOLA!

I know its a year late but hope it helps!

Rush-me

I am fascinated that most folks didn't seem to understand your question.

I believe your problem (which was also mine) was that you have changed your password on some external account such as an email account. El Capitan has a feature in system preferences for setting passwords and accounts called intenet accounts.

So, reached by System Preferences > Internet Accounts > (name of the service: eg gmail, twitter, google, flickr)

If one changes a password on one of those services, the OS does not know it.
It also seems keychain does not always pick up the chain. Frankly the way the internet accounts window/setting and the keychain interact is not clear to me.

My resolution has been the same as the other poster's I have found I have to delete the account, then create it anew.

Apple should change this.

Hello !

I have seen similar question to change the password , why users search a method from changing from apple mail application , the apple application is just an configuration with webmail ( it can be gmail . yahoo or any ) , regarding keychain , in safari preferences , click on autofill and check the boxes as shown .

Generally , gmail address is kept same as Apple ID . so passwords will automatically get filled up in user library > Keychain folder .

And the passwords are encrypted you cannot even read it ( but a good user must write down each password in a safe place ) , while creating accounts that could be Apple ID , web mail or iCloud id .

Your second clause after the , "why users search" is a bit hard to parse but I'll see if I can respond a bit.

Two things to note:
1) Not all users use safari; I generally don't though I keep it on hand. So any fixes you supply that require it will not aid all users.

2) This is not just about mail applications. The "internet accounts" feature serves all kinds of accounts. In fact, when I was having a challenge it was for an internet account set up in accounts that is not for email.

3) Again this is about changing an overall account that has already been changed in the source account: email accounts such as "gmail" or others such as an ldap account or vimeo...what have you. This is not about fiddling around in the keychain.

4) Regarding "a good user" some might write things down, others won't be comfortable with that and might be using a password manager such as keypass, 1pass, etc. to store passwords, while others rely on encrypted files. There are many ways to skin a cat.

5) For whatever reason it seems apple has not implemented a way to change the password right in the "internet accounts "dialog box. I am sending it as a feature request. I suggest others do as well. Having to kill off and recreate accounts could be quite time consuming if you were dealing with a large imap account, which thankfully I was not.

Yeah , every person has its own way of thinking , some love safari others chrome , they have different techniques , you may not be happy but me impressed when I read your post 🙂.

Thanks ! for your thoughts .

All I want to do is UPDATE the password internally at the OSX system preferences interface, so my system can continue to access those systems when I change external passwords. Super simple. Shouldn't require keychain, etc.

And how do you suppose the OS is going to tell the Gmail log-in that the password is now different?

For security and safety reasons, a password should only be used at the site it is intended for - not "forwarded" via insecure means to be picked up by bots.

For whatever reason it seems apple has not implemented a way to change the password right in the "internet accounts "dialog box.

For security and safety reasons, it should not be considered a "feature". See my post above.

FWIW, although I use FF and it autofills at most sites (except financial institutions), I really think that one should be required to actually type in the password every time - again for security and safety reasons. Storing passwords online (anywhere) is not safe as anything can and will be hacked into.

Ru5hme wrote:

Hi EdKeller,

For the life of me I could not understand why Apple always does these small irritating things. And to top it, most of the replies are mostly trying to say something else without actually trying to understand at all what you are trying to say. I totally and I mean TOTALLY understand what you are trying to say. To add to that I do not use Keychain. So how in the life of me am I going to add/modify/update the new password that I just updated in my Gmail account.

I think the bold section (I added) is why you are having the issue (edkeller appears to have made the same mistake too).

Keychain IS used by the OS for all 'remembered' passwords. That is the one secure location for the passwords that are used in your user account. There is no other place to edit them, System Preferences & the other locations merely push the data into the keychain, be that the system keychain (Wi-Fi passwords are used for every user,) or ones just for your account.

If you look through all the keychain entries you should find ones that relate to the gmail account's smtp, pop or imap servers. iCloud keychain complicates the issue but they should be visible there too if you sync them.

When you need to edit the password you need to go through Keychain Access to edit the entries that use that password.

An issue I have seen personally is when an account is used for many years & has multiple saved entries - it can make it complicated to work out which one is current. Gmail & other services can also change the server addresses, ports etc so that can also cause another entry to be created. You probably have entries for sending & receiving too - as these are normally different values.

If you are unsure backup your keychain folder (open ~/Library/Keychains via 'Finder > Go menu > Go to folder…')

Then delete the keychain items you do not need. As you already recreated the account you should have new values for the latest Gmail server settings.

NOTE: depending on your gmail account settings you may need to use an 'application based' password that is different to the main account password.

You posted in the El Capitan community but your profile says you are using 10.5.2. You should update your profile so that we know how to respond to your question.

You must first change the gmail email password on the gmail site. Then once you have a new gmail password:

In Mail

Mail / Preferences / Accounts / Account Information / Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) / Edit SMTP Server List / (chose account you want to update), at the bottom of the window:

User Name: ...

Password: ...

Insert your new gmail password.

Um, isn't this what Keychain Access does? Look inside /Applications/Utilities

All saved passwords are managed in the keychain. There are 'local items' and the 'Login keychain'. login is unlocked when the user logs in (by default). Frankly I don't really understand the point of the local items keychain but Apple made it when iCloud keychain syncing came around & forced it on everyone even if you don't use iCloud.

You will need to update both places or just delete the specific keychain items & re-enter them when you next get prompted. Safari seems to use the local items for it's autofill data. There is also a system keychain for wifi passwords & things that are system wide, it's best to leave that alone & use the 'forget network' option of System Preferences to remove them.

Some apps will have their own password store like Firefox IIRC but most should use keychain.

Hello !

To change the gmail account password , it is recommended to change from g mail site itself as IMAP account is configured with POP3 account .

A screen shot for reference : Type the mail id , and password and click on forgot password , upcoming steps will appear and you can follow them .

Thanks !

What you want is not possible & has never been how OS X manages these settings - the keychain is where passwords are stored, Keychain Access is where you manage them. Sorry I can't help if you refuse to use the tools that the OS made for the purpose you desire.

You need to search for the smtp or email related passwords if you want to edit them. 'oauth tokens' will be for services you allowed to access accounts as far as I can tell. Of course you could use Time Machine to ensure the keychains are backed up before you remove items or back them up yourself (In Finder ' Go > Go to Folder…' enter ~/Library/Keychains), duplicate the .keychain files for safekeeping. The files are encrypted so should be safe provided your user account password is strong. Rename the file.keychain if you want to reopen & view it in keychain access, you can manage multiple keychains & move items from one to the other provided you have the passwords.

I don't know how 'average users' handle this - frankly 'average users' barely understand the concept of saved passwords as far as I can tell. Most people I deal with seem surprised that Keychain Access exists, or that the OS has their passwords saved. Be smart & learn to use the tools Apple gave you.

I suspect Apple expect you to use system help or visit an Apple store, let us know what they tell you.