Some sites want passwords with only letters and numbers, they reject the Safari Generated passwords with dashes. It takes a while for me to work out that this was going on.
Is there any way to tell Safari to quit with the dashes and to make a numbers and letters only password?
MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Sierra (10.12.1)
It's Safari working in conjunction with Keychain. You can change the suggestion options in the password generator in Keychain but I don't know if it will affect what Safari does.
See this thread for instructions on how to access it:
xHow to get safari to suggest a password
You'll need to scroll down a bit to see Old Toad's instructions.
Then, change the password type using the dropdown box (It says Memorable in the screenshot.
Edit: John beat me to it and seems to know the answer.
It certainly would be nice if a user could alter the rules by which Safari suggests its "random" password. At least one allegedly ultra-secure website that I use objects to its format as being not secure enough. Of course that's absurd, but such is the nature of the organization that imposed that requirement.
I have made that suggestion to Apple and that's all anyone can do. In the meantime there is a workaround. Read about Password Assistant in macOS Sierra: Tips for creating secure passwords. That document does not explain how to find Password Assistant. It's part of Keychain Access, which is in your Mac's Utilities folder.
Copy and paste that password in Safari's password field, and it will autofill assuming you selected that option.
I was under the impression that those dashes were just for user readability and didn't affect their use. However, this may depend on the site in question. Not all websites will work with the auto generated passcodes according to what I read.
Ok. I should have been more explicit.
When using Safari as a browser on a website asking a password at for registration, I am usually offered the opportunity to insert a "Safari-generated password". I assumed this was generated by Safari (hence the wording) but perhaps I am wrong.
In any case there seems to be an OSX programme which generates passwords. I use it often and find it convenient. The passwords are stored in my keychain. They are of the form: xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx where x is a letter or number. Some websites won't accept this format. They want xxxxxxxxxxxxx where x is a letter or number (not a dash).
Is there any way to make use of the inbuilt MacOSX password-generating facility in this case? Any clever hidden options I can use?
Ah! This is what I wanted. I found "Password Assistant" by following the instructions in your link. Thank you.
Then I can generate passwords that are, say, numbers only, exactly as I wanted (or rather, as the website I am trying to use wants)
There is code cited by "old Toad" in his/her article ("Codepoetry") which keeps Password Assistant in the dock. However this website has disappeared and the link doesn't work.
But now at least I know how to find "Password Assistant". I wonder why Apple hid it? It's user-friendly and useful.
I appreciate your help, thank you.
Alizarine wrote:
Ah! This is what I wanted. I found "Password Assistant" by following the instructions in your link. Thank you.
Then I can generate passwords that are, say, numbers only, exactly as I wanted (or rather, as the website I am trying to use wants)
There is code cited by "old Toad" in his/her article ("Codepoetry") which keeps Password Assistant in the dock. However this website has disappeared and the link doesn't work.
But now at least I know how to find "Password Assistant". I wonder why Apple hid it? It's user-friendly and useful.
I appreciate your help, thank you.
Thank you. Most of the credit goes to Old Toad, though, for the explanation. I'm just fast with Google. 🙂
Safari doesn't generate passwords.
Apparently I don't use Safari often enough. I suppose I've never tried joining a site while using Safari. I've learned something new.
How do I get Safari to generate a password WITHOUT dashes?
