It can be annoying to have the dual-platform life of macOS and Windows, or even just ‘Apple and everything that isn’t Apple’. But If You save your passwords to Keychain, then upload them to iCloud to sync with your Apple devices, you can now extend that functionality to Windows systems. (Kind of.)
Apple has launched a new browser extension that allows you to bring your keychain passwords to Chrome (and with a minor tweak Edge Chromium). You can also sync new passwords you create in these browsers with iCloud Keychain, and then you can use them on your connected Apple devices.
Yes, this means that Firefox users will be let down for this, aand it also means that you can still only access your passwords through your browser; Keychain still isn’t built into good old icloud-dot-com, and there’s no Apple app you can use on Windows either, as you could a 1Password or a LastPass.
Launch the browser and go to it Chrome webshop around the iCloud passwords extension. Install it and then proceed to install iCloud for Windows if you haven’t already. You need version 12 of the app to do everything with the extension. Apple seems to have pulled the update from the Microsoft Store at this point, but it’s possible you already updated to it last week (or will be able to update soon).
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I don’t have it, but I know you need to check that little Passwords box to get your browser extension to sync passwords back and forth with iCloud. So if you already have version 12.0 of iCloud or Windows – or when it appears – make sure to check that option, otherwise your extension won’t be able to do anything. Furthermore, working with the iCloud Passwords extension is as easy as any other password manager; you shouldn’t have any problems there.
However, you may run into a problem trying to sync the extension with iCloud for Windows when using Edge Chromium. The extension is fine to install, but you should specify that you sync with Internet Explorer and not Chrome, which may require you to adjust the setting of your “Bookmarks” options. I’ll test this as soon as I get the updated version of the app, but that’s the quick fix I’ve read that seems to have worked for others. Pretend Edge is Chromium Internet Explorer, not Chrome, even if it has a lot more in common with the latter.