Restore an older version of iCloud keychain
I saved an important password in an iCloud keychain, then deleted it there, and then forgot the password. Pretty dumb, I know. Still, is it somehow possible to get an older version of that keychain that still keeps the password?
I just ran into the same situation and unfortunately no you cannot restore iCloud keychain from your own backup.
See Apple's support note on the topic https://support.apple.com/kb/PH20120, specifically:
Passwords stored in the iCloud keychain are encrypted and stored on your computer and can’t be copied.
As you, I tried copying other keychain files and 'keychain-db' files, but none of the iCloud passwords were contained in those.
I was just able to do this. Here's the procedure I took. I suspect some of these steps might be extraneous, but I didn't have time to experiment, so I went nuclear:
- Removed MacBook from network - unplugged cable, turned off AirPort
- Logged out of account.
- Logged in as different admin user, and restored the iCloud Keychain directory for the original, which, FYI is named a random UUID, e.g. 48579CB8-D696-401C-913F-E3F87181CFD2, and lives in /Users//Library/Keychains/. Obviously, you need sudo to do this.
- Restarted, and logged in original account
- Opened Keychain Access, found the relevant key, copied the password, etc. to a temporary location.
- Repeated steps 2 through 4, but instead, restoring the most recent version of the iCloud Keychain.
So, I was able to get the key that was accidentally deleted from the backup, but there was some ensuing weirdness:
First, I started getting Push Notification prompts saying my passwords were wrong for my standard Mail, Contacts & Calendar accounts.
Then, I opened Keychain Access, and noticed iCloud Keychain had returned to being Local Items (that's its name if you don't use iCloud Keychain).
Finally, I went to iCloud Preferences, and noticed that iCloud Keychain was now disabled. So, something in my procedure caused that. I turned it back on, gave it a minute, and all was right in the world.
Except... I had to re-enable Unlock my Mac with my Watch. Presumably, that's not restored from iCloud Keychain, which makes sense.