Updating credentials from the macOS Keychain

You'll need to update your saved credentials in the git-credential-osxkeychain helper if you change your username, password, or personal access token on GitHub.

In this article

Note: Updating credentials from the macOS Keychain only applies to users who manually configured a personal access token using the osxkeychain helper that is built-in to macOS.

We recommend you either configure SSH or upgrade to the Git Credential Manager (GCM) instead. GCM can manage authentication on your behalf (no more manual personal access tokens) including 2FA (two-factor auth).

When Git prompts you for your password, enter your personal access token. Alternatively, you can use a credential helper like Git Credential Manager. Password-based authentication for Git has been removed in favor of more secure authentication methods. For more information, see "Managing your personal access tokens."

Updating your credentials via Keychain Access

  1. Click on the Spotlight icon (magnifying glass) on the right side of the menu bar.
  2. Type Keychain Access, then press the Enter key to launch the app.
  3. In Keychain Access, search for github.com.
  4. Find the "Internet password" entry for github.com.
  5. Edit or delete the entry accordingly.

Deleting your credentials via the command line

Through the command line, you can use the credential helper directly to erase the keychain entry.

$ git credential-osxkeychain erase
host=github.com
protocol=https
> [Press Return]

If it's successful, nothing will print out. To test that it works, try and clone a private repository. If you are prompted for a password, the keychain entry was deleted.

Further reading