Keychain "login" cannot be found to store? How to remove?

I have several user accounts on my MacBook, and I often switch in and out of them. Now, whenever I return to my main user, this message appears. It says “Keychain Not Found. Keychain “login” cannot be found to store” with some random letters and numbers. I’m given two options. I can either Cancel the message or Reset to Defaults. I usually need to spam the Cancel button a few times to get rid of it. But it’ll continue showing up the next time I log in to the main user. What does “Keychain cannot be found to store” mean? How do I remove it for good?

I had the same issue on my brand-new Mac and this is how I resolved it:

  1. Press Command-Space and type “keychain access.”
  2. Launch the app.
  3. Click File > Add Keychain from the menu bar.
  4. Choose the archived keychain before the problem occurs.
  5. Add it to the keychain.
  6. Close all apps.
  7. Restart your Mac.
  8. Delete the old keychain.

This means that macOS is trying to find the saved password or information in the keychain for your account or whatever you’re doing on your Mac but is unable to. It may be due to corruption in the keychain or permission issues.

I get the message “A keychain could not be found to store” when attempting to connect to my home WiFi. Fortunately, I resolved it by removing the network from the list of preferred networks.

This is how: Open System Preferences or System Settings if you’re running macOS Ventura or later, then go to Network > Advanced and find the wifi network that’s having issues and remove it from the list of Known Networks. After that, reboot your Mac.

Here are a few ideas to eliminate the error message "A keychain could not be found to store”:

  • If it’s a specific keychain item, open Keychain Access, find the entry, and then delete it.
  • Update to the latest macOS.
  • Use the “Reset to Defaults” button to reset your passwords. You’ll lose all saved passwords and secure info if having no backups.