How do I find my SSH-Key Passphrase on MacOS?

Question

I recently tried to cloned one of my own repos on Github.

I haven't cloned a repo in a while, and as such; I forgot my "SSH-Key Passphrase" and couldn't clone it.

I am running "macOs Monterey" .

I looked everywhere and couldn't find it on my Mac.

• I looked in the ~/.ssh/id_rsa file for it,
• and even checked the ~/.ssh/identity file and could not find where it was.

I searched StackOverflow and the StackExchange and all I saw was How do I verify/check/test/validate my SSH passphrase? and SSH Key - Still asking for password and passphrase but they are both outdated and only say to delete it and start fresh.

Even Github says to change it but to do that, you have to know the old passphrase. It says nothing about " How do I find my SSH-Key Passphrase on MacOS? "

Answer 1

I looked everywhere on "How do I find my SSH-Key Passphrase on MacOS?" .

If you have saved the password to the Keychain , then you can find a solution here .

If you're tired of searching, I also placed the steps for it below .

Recovering your SSH key passphrase

1. In Finder, search for the Keychain Access app.
2. In Keychain Access , search for SSH .
3. Double click on the entry for your SSH Key to open a new dialog box.
4. In the lower-left corner , select Show Password.
5. You'll be prompted for your administrative password .
6. Your password will be revealed .