Apple mail app asking "Mail wants to access key "Imported Private Key" in your keychain

This just started to happen and I have no idea why. We use the Apple Mail app and have @mac, @icloud and @me email accounts. Does anyone have an answer as to why? I have just been restarting the computer to hope that it gets around this issue but that does not seem like the correct solution. Thanks,


Posted on Oct 11, 2025 11:48 AM

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Posted on Oct 12, 2025 7:41 AM

"Mail wants to access key 'Imported Private Key'" message means Mail needs permission to use a digital certificate to sign or encrypt emails. This is often triggered by an email account with a digital certificate, and you can resolve it by updating the key's access control in Keychain Access, entering your password for that specific key, deleting the problematic key, or by temporarily disabling email signing for that account. 

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 12, 2025 7:41 AM in response to Dan and Denise__

"Mail wants to access key 'Imported Private Key'" message means Mail needs permission to use a digital certificate to sign or encrypt emails. This is often triggered by an email account with a digital certificate, and you can resolve it by updating the key's access control in Keychain Access, entering your password for that specific key, deleting the problematic key, or by temporarily disabling email signing for that account. 

Apple mail app asking "Mail wants to access key "Imported Private Key" in your keychain

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