How to Sync iCloud Passwords With Chrome and Edge Chromium

It can be annoying to live the dual-platform life of macOS and Windows — or even just “Apple and everything that isn’t Apple.” But if you save your passwords to Keychain, and then upload that to iCloud to sync with your Apple devices, you’ll now be able to extend that functionality to Windows systems. (Sort-of.)

Apple has launched a new browser extension that allows you to pull your Keychain passwords into Chrome (and with a little adjustment, Edge Chromium). You’ll also be able to sync any new passwords you create on these browsers back to iCloud Keychain, and then be able to use them on your connected Apple devices.

Yes, this means that Firefox users are left in the lurch for this one, and it also means that you’re still only able to access your passwords via your browser; Keychain still hasn’t been built into good ol’ icloud-dot-com, nor is there an Apple app you can use on Windows, as you might a 1Password or a LastPass.

To get started in Chrome, launch the browser and navigate over to the Chrome Web Store to grab the iCloud Passwords extension. Install it, and then go install iCloud for Windows if you haven’t already. You’ll need version 12 of the app for the extension to be able to do anything. Apple seems to have pulled the update from the Microsoft Store at the moment, but it’s possible that you already updated to it last week (or will be able to update soon).

I don’t have it, but I know that you’ll need to check that little Passwords box in order for your browser extension to sync passwords back and forth to iCloud. So if you already have version 12.0 of iCloud of Windows — or when it appears — make sure you tick that option or your extension won’t be able to do anything. Other than that, working with the iCloud Passwords extension is as easy as any other password manager; you shouldn’t have issues there.

However, you might encounter a problem if you attempt to sync the extension with iCloud for Windows when using Edge Chromium. The extension installs just fine, but you’ll need to indicate that you’re syncing to Internet Explorer, not Chrome, which might require you to adjust the setting on your “Bookmarks” options. I’ll test this out as soon as I get the updated version of the app, but that’s the quick fix I’ve read that seems to have worked for others. Pretend Edge Chromium is Internet Explorer, not Chrome, even though it has much more in common with the latter.