Xcode keeps asking for password to use the System Keychain

The problem was that my Developer Certificate on Keychain was under "System", on the left hand panel, which is always locked, requiring my password to unlock!

Then I moved the Developer Certificate to "login", which is always unlocked, and now everything works perfectly. The annoyance of xCode asking for the password is gone.

Please see this picture for more details: enter image description here


  1. Go to "Keychain Access"
  2. Double click the Private Key under the certificate use to code sign your App
  3. Add "Xcode" to "Always allows these applications:" under the "Access Control" section list.

Hopefully these steps solve your problem.

  • Open Keychain Access.
  • In the top-left corner, unlock the keychain (if it is locked).
  • Choose the System keychain from the top-left corner.
  • Find your distribution certificate and click the disclosure triangle.
  • Double-click ‘Private key’ under your distribution certificate.
  • In the popup, go to the Access Control tab.
  • Select ‘Allow all applications to access this item’.
  • Save the changes.
  • Close all windows.
  • Run the application.

Here is how I fixed it on Xcode 7.2 (also works in 7.3):

  1. Open KeyChain.
  2. Select System, Choose Certificates category.
  3. Select developer certificate and double click the private key.
  4. Check Access Control and tick on 'Allow all item to access this'.
  5. Restart Xcode and run the app on device.