How to Transfer Keychain to New Mac (2 Easy Ways)

The article provides methods for importing keychains from another Mac, offering manual copying steps or using the Migration Assistant for convenience. Transferring keychains ensures seamless access to passwords on your new Mac, eliminating the need for manual input and streamlining your workflow effortlessly.



Many of us are looking for solutions on how to import keychains from another Mac. Luckily it’s not difficult since it’s pretty straightforward. This guide shows you different ways to import keychains. You can follow any of the suitable methods to sync the keychains from another Mac.

Mac Keychains VS iCloud Keychains

Mac Keychain also works offline because it is stored locally on your Mac Storage. And authenticate at all times with your Mac login password. In comparison, iCloud Keychain saves data into an Apple cloud server and synced between all your Apple device and is accessible with the iCloud account.

Now, let’s know How to copy Keychains from another Mac Or macOS.

Manually Copy The Keychains To New Mac

The easiest yet time-consuming way to import your passwords to your New Mac is to perform them manually. Of course, it’s tough and crucial to remember passwords. You can manually copy the keychain via Mac. Here is how you can do it. 

1→ Access the Finder on your Mac computer.

2→ Select Go from the menu bar. Choose Go To Folder…

open-keychain-folder-on-mac
open-keychain-folder-on-mac

3→ Enter path /System/Library.

open-library-folder-on-mac
open-library-folder-on-mac

4→ In the next screen, search for Keychains Folder. 

5→ Once you find it, plug the USB into your Mac computer. Copy the Keychains Folder and paste it into your connected USB drive or transfer using AirDrop to another Mac.

find-and-copy-keychain-folder-on-mac
find-and-copy-keychain-folder-on-mac

7→ Now plug the USB drive to the new Mac computer. And paste Keychains files into the new Mac computer.

8→ Further, Open the Keychain Access to your new Mac computer.

open-keychain-access-on-mac
open-keychain-access-on-mac

9→ Select File from the menu bar. Click Add Keychain…

add-keychain-option-on-mac-to-import
add-keychain-option-on-mac-to-import

10→ Select Keychain Files individually, which will be imported to the new Mac computer.

That’s It!

Transfer Keychain To New Mac Using Migration Assistant

If you have multiple keychains on your Mac computer, using the Migration Assistant is one of the convenient ways. However, to get familiar with the procedure, follow the steps below. 

1→ Keep both your Mac computers together and further enable Wi-Fi on Mac.

2→ Select Launchpad and search & select Migration Assistant on new Mac computer. 

open-migration-assistant-on-mac
(On New Mac), open-migration-assistant-on-mac

3→ Next, choose From A Mac, Time Machine Backup, or Startup Disk.

4→ Click on Continue.

5→ Now access the Migration Assistant on the older Mac.

6→ Choose To Another Mac and further click on Continue.

migrate-data-to-another-mac
migrate-data-to-another-mac

7→ Select your Old Mac as source data on your New Mac.

8→ Now verify all the available options over there and select Continue Button

Wait for a few seconds until the procedure gets finished. 

Final Thought!

It’s vital to transfer passwords on a new Mac when upgrading yourself with the latest machine so there is no need to manually input the password for websites and services. And when it’s imported, all your work will be done automatically. Further, read our article on how to import keychains on Mac using safari CSV file.

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Karly Wood

Karly Wood is a journalist based in Ohio who specializes in covering Apple and technology trends. With a varied experience in reporting on public safety, government, and education, her insights bridge multiple disciplines, providing readers with a well-rounded perspective on today's technological advancements. If you need to contact me, you can reach me at [email protected] or through (Facebook)

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