If you are planning to switch from the Google Chrome web browser to the macOS’ built-in browsing app Safari, the most important part for you might be importing passwords from Chrome to Safari. If you have accounts on several websites like Facebook, Google, Rediff, Reddit, Apple, and many more, entering them manually each time you visit those sites for the first time would be extremely tedious and time-consuming.
Memorizing every password is yet another cumbersome task that you must do while switching to the new Internet browser.
To overcome these hurdles, both Google and Apple have made things simpler for their users by adding the export and import features to their corresponding apps, and you can take advantage of those built-in options too.
In the following sections, you will learn how to import passwords from Chrome to Safari using both Safari’s built-in feature and by performing the task manually.
Import Passwords from Chrome to Safari Using Safari’s Built-In Feature
If you have been using Google Chrome all along and now want to switch to Safari, the process to import passwords from Chrome to Safari is way simpler than you think. You can follow the step-by-step instructions given below to get the job done:
Step 1: Preparing Google Chrome
If Chrome is already open, close it. Also, right-click its icon on the Dock and click Quit from the context menu. After doing this, make sure that the icon in the Dock no longer has a black dot at its bottom. Once done, Chrome is all set, and you can move to the next step.
Step 2: Get to the Chrome’s Selection Box on Safari
Launch Safari. Click File from the menu bar at the top, hover the mouse over the Import From option, and click Google Chrome from the submenu.
Step 3: Import Passwords from Chrome to Safari
From the box that opens up, uncheck the boxes representing the elements you don’t want to import to Safari (Bookmarks and History boxes are unchecked for this illustration). Alternatively, you can leave all three boxes checked to import bookmarks and Chrome history along with the passwords. Click Import to proceed.
On the next box, enter your Mac’s login password (which is also your Keychain password) and click Allow. On the Chrome Safe Storage information box, enter your Mac password again and click Allow to import passwords from Chrome to Safari along with any other information that you chose in the previous box. Click OK when the importing is done.
Note: The above method assumes that you already have Google Chrome installed on your Mac and you have been using it until now. If you are a Windows user and have started using Mac recently, to make the given method work, you must install Chrome on your Mac, sign in to your Google account on Chrome so that all the passwords are synchronized, and then follow the above steps.
Import Passwords from Chrome to Safari Manually
If you don’t want to go through the lengthy process suggested in the ‘Note’ in the previous section, on your Windows PC, you can export saved Chrome passwords to a CSV file, move the file to Mac, and then import its contents to Safari. The entire process is explained below:
Step 1: Get to Chrome’s Password Manager Page
Launch Google Chrome, click the Customize and control Google Chrome icon from the top-right corner, and click Settings from the menu that drops down. From the left pane of the Settings page, click Autofill. From the right window, click Password Manager to get to the Password Manager page.
Step 2: Export Saved Passwords to a CSV File
Click the More actions icon from the right of the Saved Passwords section and click Export passwords. From the Export passwords confirmation box, click Export passwords. When the Windows Security box appears, enter your Windows login password and click OK.
On the Save As box that opens next, choose a location on your PC to save the CSV file, optionally define a custom name in the File name field, and click Save to export saved passwords.
Next, use your preferred method to transfer the CSV file to your Mac computer.
Step 3: Import the CSV File to Safari
Launch Safari, go to the File menu from the menu bar, hover the mouse over the Import From option, and this time click Passwords CSV File from the submenu. On the information box that shows up, click Choose File. Next, locate, select, and import the CSV file you created on Windows and transferred it to Mac.
On the Safari box, click Use Password, enter your Mac password on the next box, and click OK to import passwords from Chrome to Safari.
Once the process is complete, click Not Now or Delete “<CSV file name>” to delete or keep the CSV file with the passwords on your Mac respectively.
Note: The process of exporting passwords from Google Chrome to a CSV file is identical for both Windows and Mac platforms. Therefore, the method explained above works equally well on either of the operating systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some questions you may also be interested in.
Q1) How do I transfer passwords from Chrome to Keychain?
A1) You can follow the method explained above to export all Chrome passwords to a CSV file. After that, follow the instructions given below:
- On your Mac, click the Apple logo from the left of the menu bar at the top.
- Click System Settings (formerly named System Preferences).
- Click Passwords from the left pane of the System Settings window.
- Enter your login password in the input field on the right.
- Press Enter on the keyboard.
- Click the More icon from the right of the Search field.
- Click Import Passwords.
- Click Choose File on the next box
- Locate and import the CSV file.
- Enter your Mac’s login password when the Passwords box prompts.
- Click OK to import passwords from Chrome to Keychain.
Q2) How to import passwords from Chrome to Safari on iPhone?
A2) To get this done:
- Download and install Google Chrome on your iPhone.
- Launch Chrome.
- Sign in to your Google account that has passwords that you want to import to Safari.
- Once done, tap Yes, I’m in to confirm that you want to enable synchronization.
- Tap No, Thanks to ditch Chrome to be used as the default browser.
- Next, go to Settings on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap Passwords.
- Tap Password Options.
- Tap Chrome from the ALLOW FILLING FROM section.
- Tap Got it.
- Get back to the Settings screen.
- Tap your name from the top.
- Tap iCloud.
- Tap Passwords and Keychain from the APPS USING ICLOUD section.
- Turn on the Sync this iPhone button.
Conclusion
Switching to Mac means you are mentally prepared to enter into the secure zone and agree to the restrictions the Apple device imposes upon you. Nevertheless, using Safari as your default Internet browser is a great experience and while managing several credentials (initially), you can use the method given above to import passwords from Chrome to Safari either using the browser’s built-in feature or manually with the help of a CSV file.
