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I'm getting an error exporting my Dropbox Passwords CSV file into Apple Keychain
Now that dropbox passwords is being shutdown, there needs to be a possibility to export all passwords into apple keychain. Currently, I'm getting an error message when trying to import the exported password into the keychain, stating that:
"Keychain was unable to import passwords from the CSV file because it is missing column labels.
If you exported this file from a password manager, you should export a new file with different settings and try importing again."
Application Affected
Dropbox Passwords
Device
MacBook Air
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
OSX Sequoia / Safari
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
N/A
Hi Mattsson,
That's an issue with Apple's importer, to be honest, CSV export is a semi-standardized way to transfer credentials between password managers, but ultimately, it's a "best effort" approach.
The simple answer is that an easy migration to Apple Keychain is probably not possible. If you wants to switch to Apple Keychain nonetheless, the best I can think of is to:- Rename the columns as outlined as I mentioned previously.
- Remove any rows that have special characters in them and add them to Keychain after the import, manually.
21 Replies
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- Neal
Community Manager
Hi Mattsson,
I completely understand the frustration. As aarlowne mentioned, this may very well be an issue with Apple's importer as they exported directly out of Keychain and were not able to import that very same CSV back into Keychain.
Have you considered 1Password? I've seen many users successfully migrate their credentials to their platform.
I know none of this is the answer you're hoping to hear and I'm truly sorry about that. I tried the first thing, didn’t work as the second thing blocks the import. And regarding the “‘manual input”, it just shows how HORRIBLE the thought and follow-through process at Dropbox has been regarding this whole thing.
terrible and insufficient handling.
i tried exporting a CSV from Apple Passwords and importing it back in — it doesn’t even work. Pretty sure the importer’s broken, and there are already people complaining about it in the Apple Support Community. super frustrating.
i can only add them manually (which im not planning to) so i guess i just have to migrate to another password manager.
- Neal
Hi Mattsson,
That's an issue with Apple's importer, to be honest, CSV export is a semi-standardized way to transfer credentials between password managers, but ultimately, it's a "best effort" approach.
The simple answer is that an easy migration to Apple Keychain is probably not possible. If you wants to switch to Apple Keychain nonetheless, the best I can think of is to:- Rename the columns as outlined as I mentioned previously.
- Remove any rows that have special characters in them and add them to Keychain after the import, manually.
Slight update: I just manually edited all the passwords I'd saved where there are special characters involved and I STILL get the same error message. So that's not the issue, but the issue remains.
Hi Neal!
Thanks for the suggestion. I did already try that and I'm still getting an error message, though a fairly unspecific one (it says that Keychain is unable to import the file/passwords).
I do think that this relates to the fact that, when exporting from Passwords, special characters such as i.e. "å, ä, ö" (which we use in Sweden) are not being exported properly which in turn creates importation issues.
Thank you AngelSoto this worked perfectly!
I tried this and it gave another error about missing columns.
I'm concerned that, with a deadline looming, this isn't being truly addressed so many users can export to Apple Keychain smoothly.
- Neal
Hi Mattsson,
Can you try renaming the CSV columns? Specifically, you should change the headers from The Dropbox format:
- title
- website
- login
- password
- notes
- otpSecret
to the Apple format:
- Title
- URL
- Username
- Password
- Notes
- OTPAuth
In my test, just changing website to URL was already enough — it seems like that’s the field Apple can’t handle properly.
