What is secd on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Controls access to keychain items and keeps iCloud Keychain in sync.
secd is the central keychain agent: anything that needs to read or change keychain items, such as saved passwords, Wi-Fi passwords or passkeys, talks to it. It also takes part in syncing iCloud Keychain across your devices. It's normally light.
- Category
- Security
- Made by
- Apple
- Safe to quit:
- With care
Shown in Activity Monitor as secd
Why is secd using so much CPU or memory?
- iCloud Keychain syncing many changes, such as after signing in on a new device
- Password managers or browsers reading lots of saved passwords
- A keychain problem causing repeated retries
What to do
- 1Wait; sync bursts finish on their own
- 2Make sure you're signed in to iCloud properly in System Settings
- 3Restart your Mac
Safe to quit? With care.
macOS relaunches it; apps may briefly fail to read saved passwords.
Related processes
- securitydGuards your keychain and handles encryption, keeping passwords and private keys safe.
- Keychain Circle NotificationShows iCloud Keychain prompts, such as approving a new device or entering a device passcode.
- clouddSyncs app data with iCloud using CloudKit, for Apple apps and many third-party apps.
Part of the Taskglass Process Library