I'm not sure if this is a Safari or keychain issue.

Periodically, my "Passwords Never Saved" items disappear from both Safari > Prefs > Passwords and my keychain while my "Saved Passwords" items remain intact. This has happened in a few different versions of both macOS and Safari.

I'm not running any software or Safari extensions that are even remotely connected to passwords.

Anybody else?

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Maybe there is an internal limit on how many can be displayed. Since they are never saved, a coder may have thought you don't need them forever.

Well, I've only got 4 of them, and they've been consistent for years. while their disappearing act is relatively new.

Hmmm... I wonder if this is similar to FTM's password info requiring renewal every month?

I'm going to keep track of timing from now on.

Update: I thought I started a thread about this same topic sometime in the past, and I searched to see when, but I've been unable to locate it if it actually exists.

The FTM logon is contained in a cookie (ie. Client Side Storage) and that cookie is programmed to expire in a month. The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) sets the maximum lifespan of a cookie at one year, so if a logon is carried by a cookie it will have to be renewed at least once a year, but it appears more and more sites are setting a shorter cookie expiration time.

I was thinking that since "Not Remembered" passwords may/are likely to be for important websites, Apple may have decided to forget them periodically as a subtle suggestion to us to change them.

It seems far-fetched, but only those particular items disappearing is odd enough that anything's possible.

I guess a call to AppleCare is in order.

Well, the first Apple tech called me, had trouble understanding my problem, put me on hold, lost me, and didn't bother to call me back.

The second tech had even more trouble understanding my problem and kicked me upstairs to a Senior Adviser who, when he finally understood it, did some research and advised me that what I've experienced is expected behavior that Apple began implementing in Sierra and fully implemented in High Sierra.

Apparently, there's a cookie somewhere that periodically causes the "Never Saved" info in Safari > Prefs > Passwords and your keychain to be wiped, the purpose of the exercise being to remind you that your password isn't saved and give you a new opportunity to save it.

Based on what I was told, everyone who has "Never Saved" passwords should be experiencing what I've reported.

At any rate, it's no real bother...just adds an extra click to our lives every once in a while.

(Note: I LOVE Apple's new tech support procedure that enables you to get a callback rather than wait on hold...IF you can navigate the winding road to the option.)

Okay….the penny just dropped. I almost never look in “Safari > Prefs > Passwords” so wasn’t certain about the issue. (although I just looked and realize it could use a bit of tidying)


Which, I assume, is the dialogue box that pops up asking if I want to save the password….and there are sites , like banking, for which I click “Never Save”. I have wondered why Apple doesn’t just take my word for it that I don’t want to save a record of them on my drive, and now I know…..they’re sure they know my wishes better than me.

Just happened again after little more than 2 weeks.

If it really is planned, that seems like an unreasonably short period of time between events.

And AGAIN! AAARGH!!!

This can't be by Apple's design; it's not regular.

I don't ever recall something I've told it to "never save" having come back up.

Nor, judging by the response to this thread, has anyone else! (ryck, maybe?)

Nor can I even begin to guess what's causing it.

AAARGH!

Guess I'll give AppleCare another hard time...sooner or later...after all, it's really no more than a few annoying clicks every now and again.

Yup. Was happening all the time although I got to a point where I just didn't pay attention.....just re-click and move along. However, now that you re-raise the issue vis-a-vis me, I now uncertain when it last happened. I wonder if it's gone away. I'll keep an eye out.

It's been more than a month since the last occurrence, so I'll go out on a limb and guess that Safari 12 has fixed whatever was wrong.


Well, so much for that; it never did make much sense, anyhow!