With the latest iOS 18, Apple brings a dedicated Passwords app that lets you manage the passwords for all your websites and apps. Beyond managing your login details, the app can also handle your passkeys, verification codes, Wi-Fi details, and more. The Passwords app is available in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. If you’ve updated to the new operating systems, all your passwords and other information will be synced across your devices. Read on to learn how to use the iOS 18 Passwords app on iPhone.
Set Up and Use the iOS 18 Passwords App
Until iOS 17, all your passwords were stored in iCloud Keychain, which was buried deep inside the Settings app. Once you’ve upgraded to iOS 18, you’ll see a dedicated Passwords app on the Home Screen, labeled as Passwords with a key icon. If you have been using the iCloud Keychain, all your passwords will be automatically moved to the app.
Here’s how to use the iOS 18 Passwords app:
- Open the Passwords app from the Home Screen or the Spotlight search.
- Verify your Face ID, Touch ID, or Passcode to unlock.
- When you open the app for the first time, you’ll be asked if you wish to allow the Passwords app to send notifications when you save/change passwords or if any of your saved passwords is compromised in a data breach. Tap Continue and hit the Allow or Don’t Allow button.
- The app will now show you a dashboard with several sections like All (all your passwords), Passkeys, Wi-Fi, Codes, Security recommendations, and anything that you’ve deleted.
- To view your imported passwords, tap on All. Now, tap on a specific account to see its name and password.
Manage your passwords
Now that you know how to view saved passwords on your iPhone, you should also know how to add, edit, or delete the saved passwords in the iOS 18 Passwords app. We’ve mentioned everything below.
Add a new password in the Passwords app
When you log in to a website or sign up for an app, you’re asked if you wish to save the password on your iPhone. In case you missed it, you can any time save a password on your iPhone manually. Here’s how to do it:
- Open the Passwords app and authenticate the page with your Face ID, Touch ID, or Passcode.
- Tap on the “+” icon from the bottom right.
- Enter the Website and Username.
- Once you do it, iOS will automatically choose a strong, unique password for you.
- If you wish to set your own password, tap the text field, delete the suggested password, and enter the new one.
- Once you’re done, tap on Save from the top-right.
Edit a password in the Passwords app
If case you notice that you’ve used one password for multiple accounts, you can change it to avoid any issues. Here’s how to change a password in the iOS 18 Passwords app:
- Go to the Passwords app and tap on All.
- Here, choose the account for which you wish to change the password.
- Now, tap on “Edit” from the top-right corner. You will see your current password that you’ve saved. Simply tap on the password text field to edit the currently saved password. You’ll also see the “Change Password” option to change the password on the website itself.
- Type in your new password and tap on “Done“ to save the changes.
Delete a password
Over time, your Passwords app might get messed up with a lot of old accounts and passwords that you don’t even use. In such cases, you must delete those obsolete accounts and passwords to avoid unnecessary clutter. Here’s what you need to do:
- In the Passwords app, tap on All, and choose the account for which you wish to delete the password.
- Here, tap on Edit from the top-right and then tap on the “Delete” button from the bottom. Finally, tap on the Delete Password option to confirm your decision.
- This will remove the password from the Passwords app, and not on the app/website.
Recover a deleted password
When you delete a password, your iPhone moves it to the Deleted folder in the Passwords app. If you’ve mistakenly deleted a password or a passkey, you shouldn’t worry as it will remain on your iPhone for 30 days before it’s permanently deleted. To recover a deleted password, tap on the Deleted folder, select the website/app, and then hit the Recover button.
Enable AutoFill and Passwords in Settings
To use stored login information in the iOS 18 Passwords app, you must check the settings and manage the app. This is to ensure that your iPhone will automatically suggest passwords and passkeys when you try to sign in to apps or websites. Here’s how to do it:
- On your iPhone, open the Settings app and tap on the General section.
- Here, scroll down and tap on AutoFill & Passwords.
- Make sure the AutoFill Passwords and Passkeys option is ON.
- Also, enable the Passwords toggle under “Autofill From” and make sure the “Setup Codes From” is set to Passwords.
- If you want your iPhone to automatically delete verification codes after use, you can turn on the Delete After Use toggle.
Review the Passwords App Settings
The next thing you need to do is review the settings for the Passwords app, such as allowing Passwords to access Mobile data, Siri, and Search, or prevent any compromises. For this, go to Settings -> Apps -> Passwords and turn on Detect Compromised Passwords to know if any of your passwords appear in data leaks. You can also enable Suggest Strong Password if you wish your iPhone to automatically suggest unique and strong passwords when you’re creating new accounts or changing passwords on a website or app.
Use your Stored Passwords
Open a website or app you wish to log in using a saved password on your iPhone. Go to the sign-in page and enter your username. You’ll now see a prompt from the Passwords app asking you if you wish to sign in with a saved password. Tap on the Fill Password button and the app will enter the saved password upon authentication.
Share Passwords with Others
If you wish to share multiple accounts and passwords with your family, friends, or colleagues, you can create a Shared Group in the Passwords app. The process is pretty straightforward and requires only a few steps. Here’s how to do it:
- In the Passwords app, tap on New Group under the Shared Groups section.
- On the Shared Passwords and Passkeys page, hit the Continue button.
- Next up, choose a Group Name and then tap on the Add People option to add contacts. It’s worth knowing that you can only invite the people who are in your Contacts and using iOS 17, iPadOS 17, or macOS Sonoma or later.
- Once you’ve added the members, tap on Create from the top-right.
- Now, select the passwords and passkeys you wish to share and tap on Move.
- You can choose to notify the members via message.
You can anytime add or remove members, or delete the group altogether. For this, simply tap on the group name, then tap on the small “i” icon next to Members. Here, you can add more people, delete the group, or tap on the existing member name to remove them from the group.
That’s how you can use the iOS 18 Passwords app on your iPhone. The native app offers a simpler and more convenient way to access stored login information on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. With a new Passwords app, Apple can challenge the most popular third-party password managers like 1Password and LastPass.
Did you like the new Passwords app on your iPhone? Tell us in the comments below.
