What is securityd on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Guards your keychain and handles encryption, keeping passwords and private keys safe.
securityd maintains security contexts and handles cryptographic operations for macOS. Access to keychain items goes through it, so apps never get to see private keys directly and access rules are enforced. It's a core security component and normally light.
- Category
- Security
- Made by
- Apple
- Safe to quit:
- No
Shown in Activity Monitor as securityd, securityd_system
Why is securityd using so much CPU or memory?
- Apps reading many keychain items, such as a password manager or browser at launch
- Certificate or code-signing checks during installs
- A damaged keychain causing repeated retries
What to do
- 1Wait a minute after login or after opening many apps
- 2If you keep getting keychain password prompts, open Keychain Access and check for errors
- 3Restart your Mac
Safe to quit? No.
Don't quit it: keychain access, logins and encryption depend on it.
Typical usage
Rough ranges on Apple Silicon Macs. Yours will vary.
- CPU
- Near 0%
- Memory
- 10–60 MB
Related processes
Part of the Taskglass Process Library