The new iOS 18, which is gradually being rolled out to iPhones since early Monday morning, brings with it quite a few new features to discover. One of them is related to cybersecurity and will be quite useful for improving the security of our accounts on social networks and platforms.
This is the new ‘Passwords’ app, a section dedicated exclusively to the storage and management of security keys for websites or WiFi networks, as well as passkeys or ‘access keys’. In fact, the functions of this app were already present on iPhone, iPad and Mac previously as iCloud Keychains, and can be accessed from the Settings menu.
Now, what we have is a specific app to be able to access and consult this data more easily.
As a distinctive element, the app has the advantage of giving us direct access to saved passwords for Wi-Fi networks, allowing us to configure automatic verification codes, see which passwords may be compromised by leaks, and making it easier for us to share certain passwords with family members or friends, through shared groups.
If you’re already an Apple user with a Mac or a regular Safari user, you’ll find that many or even all of your passwords are already saved and will appear in the Passwords app when you open it. However, if you’ve been using a variety of browsers or recently started using an iPhone, you may not have many passwords previously saved in iCloud Keychain.
That’s why we’re going to explain how you can import passwords from other browsers or password managers that you were previously using, so that you can now have everything stored on your iPhone. However, for this process you’ll need a Mac, since you’ll only be able to import the necessary file on an Apple computer.
How to transfer passwords to Apple Passwords
You can export passwords from browsers or managers you’ve used before and import them into Apple’s Passwords app easily in three simple steps:
- Export your passwords saved in browsers like Google Chrome or Firefox, or in password managers like 1Password, Google Password Manager, or LastPass, to a CSV file.
- Import that CSV file into the Apple Passwords app on Mac.
- Once your new passwords are on your Mac, they’ll automatically sync via iCloud to your other Apple devices.
Exporting passwords should be a very similar process across browsers and managers. In a browser, just go to Settings, go to the Passwords section, and find the option to export information. In managers like LastPass, this option is available under Advanced Settings. Once you have the CSV file, take it to a Mac you’re logged into, and import it as follows:
- Open the Passwords app on your Mac running macOS Sequoia.
- Click File > Import Passwords in the top menu bar.
- Click Choose File.
- Select the CSV file you previously exported and click Import. To protect your security, you will be advised to delete the CSV file you imported from disk.
Once you’ve done that, all you have to do is make sure that this information is being shared with your iPhone via iCloud. Go to the iPhone Settings menu, tap on your Apple account > iCloud > Passwords > make sure that “Sync This iPhone” is turned on. It will also need to be syncing on your Mac.
With this, your Passwords app will be synchronized and ready to continue registering or saving new passwords by clicking on the ‘+’ icon that we see in the lower right corner of the app.
