More than four years ago, Alicia Katz Pollock wrote 'Five Ways to Reset a Lost Administrator Password' (17 January 2014), and through the vagaries of Google's search algorithm, it remains our most popular article to this day. Apparently, lots of people forget their macOS passwords or need to help friends or clients who have lost their passwords.
- Reset using your Recovery Key (FileVault must be on) At the login screen, keep entering a password until you see a message saying that you can reset your password using your. Click next to the message. The password field changes to a Recovery Key field. Enter your Recovery Key.
- This is the simplest way to reset a password on a MacOS Sierra computer: Reboot the Mac, as soon as the screen turns back on or you hear the boot chime sound, start holding down COMMAND + R. At the 'MacOS Utilities' screen, pull down the 'Utilities' menu and choose 'Terminal' When Terminal loads.
- Restart Your Mac. First, restart your computer. The most straightforward way is to hold down the.
- Steps to reset the password on a macOS Sierra-based computer Step one. After that, select Terminal from the pull-down menu Step three. When your Mac finishes booting up, you simply need to enter the newly-reset password to login to your.
How to change the root password in macOS High Sierra First of all, open the Apple menu by clicking the Apple icon in the top-left hand corner of the screen, then click on ‘System Preferences'.
Unfortunately, that article is long past its shelf life, so here's a current guide to resetting an admin password in macOS 10.13 High Sierra. As before, you can accomplish this task in a variety of ways, depending on how the Mac in question was set up and what information you know.
Reset the Password from Another Admin Account
The best-case scenario is that there is another admin account on the Mac for which the password is available. If that's true, you can log into that account and change the password for the locked account:
- Open System Preferences > Users & Groups.
- Select the locked account in the list at the left. (If necessary, click the lock at the bottom of the window and provide your admin credentials.)
- Click Reset Password.
- Enter the new password, verify it, and (optionally) include a password hint.
- Click Change Password.
The only problem with this method is if the locked-out account is logged in, you can't modify it. The easy solution is to restart the Mac, log in with the admin account whose password you do know, and carry on from there. To forcibly log out the other user while rebooting, you have to enter an admin username and password.
If you don't currently have an extra admin account on the Macs you take care of, it's a good idea to create one. Just make sure it has a strong password that you'll remember.
Reset the Password Using an Apple ID
What if there is no other admin account available? You can use the Apple ID associated with the account in question to reset the admin password, but only if these conditions are true:
- You know the Apple ID's email address and password. If you don't know the password, but you have access to the email address, you can reset the password at Apple's Apple ID page.
- The 'Allow user to reset password using Apple ID' checkbox in System Preferences > Users & Groups must be selected. This setting won't appear if FileVault is enabled.
To get to the point in the login process where you can reset the password, click the question mark that appears on the right side of the password field or just try to log in three times. After the third failed login attempt, the Mac will prompt you with the password reminder, if one is set, and give you the option of resetting the password using your Apple ID.
Then enter the Apple ID email address and password and follow the onscreen instructions. Minecraft for mac os x 10 5 8.
Reset the Password Using the Reset Password Assistant
If the 'Allow user to reset password using Apple ID' option isn't enabled, or the previous method doesn't work, there's still a way to use Apple ID credentials to reset the admin password. You'll need to use Apple's Reset Password assistant, which requires that you reboot into macOS Recovery and use Terminal:
- To enter macOS Recovery, restart the Mac. As it's starting up, press and hold Command-R until you see the Apple logo, at which point you can let go.
- Once in macOS Recovery, ignore the main window and choose Utilities > Terminal, which opens a Terminal window.
- In that window, type
resetpasswordand press Return to open the Reset Password assistant.
Either way, once you're in the Reset Password assistant, select 'I Forgot My Password' and click Next.
If the account for which you wish to reset the password is a standard account, rather than an admin account, all you have to do is enter a new password.
For an admin account, you'll instead have to enter the password for the account's associated Apple ID. (If you don't know it, you can click 'Forgot Apple ID or password?' to move on to the Apple ID recovery process, which may require your trusted phone numbers.) Once you have entered the necessary password, you may be prompted for a two-factor authentication verification code, which will arrive on another device connected to that Apple ID. (If the Mac is your only Apple device, you should be able to receive the code from a phone call or SMS text message.) Finally, you'll get to a screen where you can enter a new password and password hint.
What If You Use FileVault?
FileVault encrypts the Mac's boot volume, making it readable only after the appropriate login credentials are entered, typically those of the primary admin account. The process for resetting the admin password changes a bit if FileVault is turned on because FileVault eliminates the option to reset the password with Apple ID credentials.
Factory Reset Mac Without Password
Fortunately, the method remains simple: enter a random password three times at the login screen, after which you'll be prompted to reset the password using your Apple ID or recovery key.
Apple notes that you may still have trouble logging in with the new password after all this, and if so, suggests that you use the Reset Password assistant to reset the password again, using the 'My password doesn't work when logging in' option and following the subsequent instructions.
I hope your FileVault recovery key is stored in a safe place, like 1Password or LastPass! If it wasn't saved or you can't access it, you may want to turn off FileVault before you get into a situation where you can't log into the Mac. In my experience, it's easier to back up the drive, erase it, and then restore it, than it is to turn off FileVault.
Dealing with the Keychain
The keychain is an encrypted container associated with each user account that stores login credentials for apps, network servers, AirPort base stations, and Web sites accessed in Safari. It's easy to forget about the keychain because it is typically protected by the same password used to log in to the account. As a result, resetting the password for an admin account means that you can no longer access the keychain for that account. Sorry, but there's no way to recover that information.
After resetting the admin password and logging in again, you will likely receive an alert that macOS was unable to unlock your login keychain. Click Create New Keychain to start fresh. If you don't receive the alert and have problems with the keychain, follow these steps to reset it:
- Open Keychain Access from
/Applications/Utilities. - Choose Keychain Access > Preferences and click Reset My Default Keychains, which creates a new keychain with no password.
- Log out of the account by choosing Apple > Log Out Username.
- Log back into the account to tie the account password to the new keychain.
Don't Reset Passwords Willy-Nilly
As you can see, there are a variety of ways that you can reset a lost or forgotten admin password and regain access to a Mac, although they all depend on knowing either another admin password or an Apple ID password.
Vba emulator mac. However, don't reset an admin password unless doing so is absolutely necessary because the login keychain will be lost in the process, and that will likely cause future annoyance.
If you're not yet in this situation, take precautionary measures now! Be sure that your Macs' passwords and any FileVault recovery keys are stored in secure locations that you—and other trusted users—can access easily. And of course, make sure to keep regular backups, which can help you recover from a multitude of sins.
Just like Windows, Mac is another operating system that is being used by millions of people around the world. At certain points, it considered better than Windows. However, the fundamental usages on both are quite similar. Just the way of doing things is different. In this article, I am going to explain how to reset your Mac login or admin password if you forgot it by chance.
There are certain ways and methods that you can employ to reset the password of you Mac OS X in case you forgot it. There might be many ways of resetting the Mac password but I am explaining the three ways that I am familiar with.
Method 1: Reset Mac Admin Password Using Your Apple ID
One of the simplest and easiest ways to reset Mac OS X password is resetting by using your Apple ID.Now since you forgot your password, just enter wrong passwords many times on the login screen, and you will see a message just as you can see in the screenshot below that states that you can reset the password using the Apple ID.
Reset Password Mac Terminal
There you can also see a small arrow that you have to click to reset the password. Follow the on-screen instruction, and in few minutes you will be able to reset your password. This method is simple and effective! I prefer this one over any other method, and that is the reason, I kept this on the top on my list.
Note: This method will work only if you already have the Apple ID linked to your account. If you're Windows 10 user, don't forgot to check our other guide for Windows 10 password reset.
Method 2: Mac OS X's Password Recovery Utility To Reset Your Password
Mac OS X has inbuilt password recovery utility that you can use to reset the password.
Follow the steps below:
1) Start your Mac computer by pressing the Power button.
2) Press Command + R immediately to boot your Mac computer to recovery drive.
Step 3. Now you will see the recovery utility screen. Select Terminal from Utilities Menu. Then type the command: resetpassword in the Terminal.
Step 4. Press the Enter button, and the Password Recovery Utility will be opened. There you have to select the volume that contains the user account which is by default: Macintosh HD. Enter a new password, and click on save.
Important Note: Keep the Terminal open while doing all this process.
Step 5. Restart your Mac computer, and when it asks the password, enter the password you have just set in step 4, and you will be able to log in.
Method 3: Use Terminal To Reset Your OS X Password
Before you get on to try this method, let me tell you a few things:
1. This method will create a new admin account, and then you can use that account to reset your existing account's password.
2. Though this method is well tested, you must have the backup of your data. And, we don't take any responsibilities of any damage that may happen (in rare cases) while carrying out this method.
3. Try this method only if no other method works for you.
Follow the steps below to carry out the password reset using Terminal:
Step 1. Press power button to turn your Mac On. And Press and hold Command + S
Step 2. Doing this will open the Terminal in single user mode. If you see the below screen, you are successfully entered into the single user mode of Terminal.
Step 3. Now, you need to execute a set of commands one by one that I have listed below. Remember, after every command you type, you have to press the enter button to execute that command.
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown –h
Step 4. After the last command, your Mac will be shut down. Press power button to start again. You will see the Mac startup screen. Follow the steps that are narrated by your Mac to create an admin account.
One of the simplest and easiest ways to reset Mac OS X password is resetting by using your Apple ID.Now since you forgot your password, just enter wrong passwords many times on the login screen, and you will see a message just as you can see in the screenshot below that states that you can reset the password using the Apple ID.
Reset Password Mac Terminal
There you can also see a small arrow that you have to click to reset the password. Follow the on-screen instruction, and in few minutes you will be able to reset your password. This method is simple and effective! I prefer this one over any other method, and that is the reason, I kept this on the top on my list.
Note: This method will work only if you already have the Apple ID linked to your account. If you're Windows 10 user, don't forgot to check our other guide for Windows 10 password reset.
Method 2: Mac OS X's Password Recovery Utility To Reset Your Password
Mac OS X has inbuilt password recovery utility that you can use to reset the password.
Follow the steps below:
1) Start your Mac computer by pressing the Power button.
2) Press Command + R immediately to boot your Mac computer to recovery drive.
Step 3. Now you will see the recovery utility screen. Select Terminal from Utilities Menu. Then type the command: resetpassword in the Terminal.
Step 4. Press the Enter button, and the Password Recovery Utility will be opened. There you have to select the volume that contains the user account which is by default: Macintosh HD. Enter a new password, and click on save.
Important Note: Keep the Terminal open while doing all this process.
Step 5. Restart your Mac computer, and when it asks the password, enter the password you have just set in step 4, and you will be able to log in.
Method 3: Use Terminal To Reset Your OS X Password
Before you get on to try this method, let me tell you a few things:
1. This method will create a new admin account, and then you can use that account to reset your existing account's password.
2. Though this method is well tested, you must have the backup of your data. And, we don't take any responsibilities of any damage that may happen (in rare cases) while carrying out this method.
3. Try this method only if no other method works for you.
Follow the steps below to carry out the password reset using Terminal:
Step 1. Press power button to turn your Mac On. And Press and hold Command + S
Step 2. Doing this will open the Terminal in single user mode. If you see the below screen, you are successfully entered into the single user mode of Terminal.
Step 3. Now, you need to execute a set of commands one by one that I have listed below. Remember, after every command you type, you have to press the enter button to execute that command.
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown –h
Step 4. After the last command, your Mac will be shut down. Press power button to start again. You will see the Mac startup screen. Follow the steps that are narrated by your Mac to create an admin account.
Step 5. Now, you will be logged in using your new admin account. Go to Users & Groups from System Preferences.
Step 6. Now, Click on the lock icon to authenticate. And enter the admin user and password you have just created.
Step 7. Now you will see all the user accounts that are present on your Mac. You just have to select the account which password you need to reset, and just do it.
Once you are done with the resetting the password of the account, you may log out of the newly created admin account, and log in with the account which password you have just reset using the new password.
Verdict
These are the three best ways to reset the Mac login password when you forgot it. For better security, note down your password somewhere, and keep that safe! Hope you like these methods.
