What if you want to rid yourself and Mac OS X Mail of an email account password, though, because you've closed an account, for instance, or Mail automatically assumes log-in information that it previously stored but which now you do not desire when you set up an account anew? Fortunately, all email account passwords saved by Mac OS X Mail (and many an other Mac email program) are stored in Mac OS X's repository of certificates and credentials, the "keychain".
Removing a password from your keychain is fast and easy.
Make Mac OS X Mail Forget a Password and Delete It from your Mac OS X Keychain
To delete an email account's log-on information from your Mac OS X keychain and have Mail forget the credentials:
- Close Mac OS X Mail (or any other email program using keychain to store passwords) if it is running.
- Open Keychain Access.
- You can find it in the /Applications/Utilities folder or by using Spotlight, of course.
- Highlight Passwords under Category.
- Press Command-Option-F.
- Type the email address or user name of the account you want to delete.
- You can also search for the server name.
- Look for an entry of the kind Internet password whose Where: field begins with
- "imap://",
- "pop://" or
- "smtp://" and
- Make sure the item you want to delete is highlighted.
- You can highlight more than one at a time by holding down the Command key when clicking to select.
- Press Backspace.
- Now click Delete under Are you sure you want to delete "___"?.
Restart Mac OS X Mail or, of course, your chosen email program.
(Updated January 2012)
