View Your Keychain Search List with security list-keychains

See which keychains macOS searches — and in what order — when apps look up passwords and certificates.

macOSKeychainsecuritysearch-listMedium risk

Run `security list-keychains` to print the user's keychain search list in priority order.

01Command

Command

$ security list-keychains

02What it does

macOS searches keychains in a defined order until a credential is found; security list-keychains shows that list while security default-keychain shows which one new items go to. The -s flag can reorder it or add a custom keychain for isolated secrets. Related forgotten verbs include create-keychain, unlock-keychain (widely used in CI), and dump-keychain for auditing entries.

03Risk

RiskMedium risk

RequirementsBuilt-in on macOS.

!Warning: Reordering the search list changes which duplicate credential wins; record the current output before changing it.

04Undo

Undo

$ security list-keychains -s "$(security list-keychains | sed 's/"//g' | tr '\n' ' '")

05Sources

security — keychain management commands (macOS)
SS64 · technical · 2026-09-17
Evidence: Documents list-keychains, and -s to set the user's keychain search list, plus create-keychain and unlock-keychain verbs.

Last verified: 2026-09-17 · Category: Security & Privacy

06Related solutions

Create an Encrypted Disk Image with hdiutil

macOShdiutilsecuritydisk-image

Build an AES-256 encrypted .dmg vault from the Terminal — no Disk Utility clicking required.

Low risk ✓ 2026-09-17

Verify an App's Code Signature with codesign

macOSGatekeepersignaturecodesign

Check whether an application bundle was signed properly and hasn't been modified since.

Low risk ✓ 2026-09-17