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Apple isn’t limiting its Keychain password-storing features to the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Here’s how you can extend the iCloud Keychain, so you can use your stored passwords on a Windows PC.
Password management tools exist in many forms, with some boasting cross-platform support. Tools like 1Password and LastPass offer a way to use the same set of secured passwords on multiple devices, synchronizing them periodically, so they’re always ready for use.
Those embedded into Apple’s ecosystem will be familiar with the company’s password storage system, the Keychain. They may also be aware that using tools like the iCloud Keychain can enable the same passwords to be used on an iPhone, iPad, and a Mac with little effort required.
For quite some time, Apple kept Keychain to its hardware and operating systems, a limitation that enabled other password managers to flourish. However, Apple has since become more open to Windows and other platforms and now allows Keychain access for Windows PCs.
The problem, though, is it’s not as easy to use the Windows version of the iCloud Keychain as it is on a Mac or iPhone. Even so, getting to grips with the feature will help you keep all of your passwords secure and organized across multiple ecosystems.
All done without needing to pay a third-party company or to use their apps.
What’s different with Windows?
The first thing to consider about iCloud Passwords is that it has a different name. Windows deals with iCloud Passwords, Apple’s operating systems refer to it as iCloud Keychain.
There’s no official reason for this difference in naming convention, but it exists.
Secondly, remember that Apple has deeply integrated access to the Keychain in its operating systems, making it as seamless as possible to use on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, as well as to manage their credentials. This isn’t the case on Windows.
Not only is there all of the work of setting it up, but you cannot access the Keychain at a system level. You can do so via the browser or a dedicated app, but you can’t use Keychain-stored passwords anywhere you want in Windows.
This does limit its utility, but it just adds a few extra steps to getting a password from the Keychain. Since most users need access to credentials via the browser, using some supplied extensions for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge isn’t a dealbreaker.
The entire offering isn’t as fully-featured as its macOS and iOS counterpart, so you’re not getting elements such as credit card detail storage, secure notes, certificates, stored Wi-Fi details, or anything exotic that you would see in Keychain Access.
You’re getting synchronized records consisting of website addresses, usernames, passwords, and when they were last updated.
There is also an entire process that you must follow to get it running correctly. Luckily, you only have to do it once.
Setting up iCloud Passwords in Windows
Before installing everything you need in Windows, you must get things in order.
First, ensure iCloud Keychain is enabled on the Apple ID that you want to use. If it’s not enabled, your passwords aren’t going to sync from your Mac or iOS device in the …….