Where are passwords kept on your mac osx?

Answer 1

OSX keeps passwords in a "keychain" accessed by an application called, you guessed it, "Keychain Access". The password you set up when you first create a user account is the default password that encrypts the data and opens the file initially. You can change it to something else, however should you forget the new Keychain password you may lose whatever is kept within that file. 

Theoretically, if you forget your keychain password, you can reset it to your user password. To do this, you go to your Utilities/Applications File and select "Keychain Access." Choose the Keychain First Aid utility and click "Repair." It will ask for your username and password, and will tell you if any problems are found. You can try to have it reset the password to your user password. That allows you to access your keychain but doesn't change any of the passwords or encryptions in it. Unfortunately, that doesn't always work if the keychain password is different from your user password. When it doesn't, the only thing you can do is start over by deleting the old and creating a new keychain.