How to Remove Ubuntu's Password Keyring

If Ubuntu keeps asking for a "login keyring" password every time you open Chrome, Evolution, or Wi‑Fi settings, you are dealing with GNOME Keyring. The keyring encrypts stored passwords. When its password does not match your login password — or was set long ago and forgotten — prompts appear again and again. Here is how to fix or remove that annoyance.

Understand what the keyring does

The default login keyring unlocks when you log in. Applications store secrets there. Deleting it removes saved passwords, so back up anything important before proceeding.

Option 1: Reset the keyring password

1. Open Passwords and Keys (Seahorse) from the application menu.
2. Right-click Login keyring → Change Password.
3. Set the new password to match your user login password, or leave the new password empty when prompted (older setups) so it unlocks automatically.

Option 2: Delete the login keyring

1. In Seahorse, right-click the Login keyring and choose Delete.
2. Log out and back in. Ubuntu creates a fresh keyring; set its password to your login password when asked.

Option 3: Stop prompts via empty password (legacy desktops)

Some users chose an empty keyring password so it unlocks silently. Only do this on private machines — anyone with physical access could read stored secrets.

Command-line cleanup

Keyring files live in ~/.local/share/keyrings/. After closing browsers, you can remove login.keyring and user.keystore backups, then restart the session. New keyrings are created automatically.

After any of these steps, reconnect Wi‑Fi and re-enter application passwords once. The keyring should stay unlocked for the rest of your session.