User level: Level 1 (8 points)I have an old external hardrive but my new phone doesnt have passwords older than 2023. I am wanting to see paswords back to 2018 if that is possible. I would think it would all be connected to my Apple ID. Any suggestions? I do not want to erase the 280gigs of info, I would like to see what is on drive.
Posted on Sep 18, 2026 5:30 PM
User level: Level 10 (169,253 points)Sep 18, 2026 5:50 PM in response to Sacredelements
i would not expect Apple keeps old Apple Account passwords around.
I would expect the Apple Account passwords get cryptographically hashed, too.
Very few places can or should keep human-readable non-hashed passwords around, outside a password manager.
Past looking in macOS Keychain Access or looking in an old backup of your Mac data with your old Keychain Access data, that old password (hash) data is long gone.
User level: Level 10 (122,944 points)Sep 18, 2026 5:39 PM in response to Sacredelements
You can try Keychain Access if you still have it on old system.
Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256360118