Your email accounts are likely some of your most-used password-based services, so losing or forgetting your email password is a big deal. However, you can easily recover that password, without going through your email service’s typically cumbersome lost-password process. Your password is likely stored in what Apple calls a keychain as part of your Mac’s built-in password storage feature.

Keychains contain login information, such as account names and passwords, in a secure, encrypted form for apps, websites, services, and other virtual places you visit on your computer.

When you set up Apple Mail or another email service, iCloud Keychain asks you to save your login name and password. This information is stored securely in a keychain on your Apple device, and also in iCloud, if you enable it in Mac System Preferences. If you forget your email password, you can recover it using Keychain on your Mac or iOS device.

Find the Keychain Access utility on your Mac by going to Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access.