Forgot Your Mac Password? 4 Ways to Reset Your Password

We've all been there: you forget password and gain access to the computer. it's unpleasant and risky, and it can derail your day or week. Regaining access to your online accounts has become easier with email and phone number recovery. But when it comes to yours laptopthis process is not that simple. However, it is still possible, so don't panic. You will definitely be able to return to your Poppy if you have forgotten your password.

Take a deep breath, because you won't lose access to your Mac forever. Apple you have to forget forgotten passwords. In addition to the company's security measures to protect devices from unauthorized access, it has built MacOS exactly for this scenario.

There are a few different methods you can use, and how to unlock your Mac without a password may depend on have you linked your Apple ID to your user account on your Mac during installation or if you have one of the new M1 Maki. If you haven't linked your Apple ID, that's okay too, because there is another way to reset your account password. Here's how to start regaining control of your Mac.

Note: Before you get started, Apple recommends double-checking that you're using a password to sign in to your Mac and not your Apple ID password, checking Caps Lock, and making sure you're using the correct input source for your language by clicking the Input menu (keyboard icon) in the menu bar. If you have a password hint set, you can check it by clicking the question mark icon next to the password field on the login screen. If you have multiple user accounts, make sure you select the correct account before attempting recovery.

Use your Apple ID to reset your Mac password

Ideally, you should associate your Apple ID with your account on your Mac during initial setup, allowing you to reset your user password in just a few clicks.

After a user's password is incorrect three times, you will be prompted to restart your computer to view your password recovery options. After you restart, you'll be prompted to sign in using your Apple ID, select the user account for which you want to reset the password, and then enter the new user account password.

On some Macs, you may see a different screen, including the option to reset your password directly using your Apple ID or, if this option is enabled, the option to reset using the recovery key you created using FireVault. We covered this in more detail at the end of this guide.

You may also see the message “Your account has been suspended. Try again at [duration]. In this case, wait until the specified duration has passed, restart your Mac, and repeat the steps above.

Use a different administrator account to unlock your Mac

If you share your Mac with friends or family and they forget their password, chances are you can reset it for them. The key point here is that you need administrator account access.

Typically the person who first set up the Mac will have an Administrator account by default, but you can check by logging into your account and opening System Settings > Users and groups and view a list of user accounts on your Mac. Just below the username you'll see the account type – if it says “Administrator”, you can reset users' passwords.

For this from the same Users and groups screen, click on the lock and, when prompted, enter your administrator name and password. Then select the user you want to reset the password for and click the button that says Reset password and follow the instructions.

Recovery Mode is the Next Best Choice

If none of these methods work, you'll need to boot your Mac into recovery mode to access the password reset tool. I've found the easiest way to do this is to start by completely shutting down your Mac.

Next, the process of entering recovery mode will depend on the type of Mac you have. On Intel-based Mac computers, press and hold the Team And R keys on your keyboard, then press the Power button. Hold Team+R until you see a progress bar under the Apple logo. You can also enter recovery mode by restarting your Mac and trying to sync the keyboard shortcut Team+Rbut in my experience, starting with the Mac turned off is the most reliable method.

For Macbook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini that use the Apple M1 processor, you will need to turn off the computer and then press and hold the power button until the select button appears. Click on it and then select Recovery. (we have more going through recovery mode thoroughly on M1 Mac computers.)

Now that your Mac is in recovery mode, click Utilities in the menu bar and then Terminal. A new window will appear waiting for the command to be entered. Type “password reset“in one word, without quotes, and press Come back.

Close the terminal window where you will find the password reset tool. Follow the instructions, including signing in with your Apple ID and selecting the user account for which you want to change the password.

If FileVault is enabled on your Mac, you can use a recovery key.

FileVault is an optional MacOS feature that encrypts your Mac's hard drive and all the data stored on it. It is usually enabled during initial setup, but you can enable it in System Preferences later.

If you have FileVault enabled, you have two additional options for resetting a user's password. You can wait up to a minute on the user login screen until a prompt appears instructing you to press the power button to reboot the Mac into recovery mode. Follow the instructions to restart your computer, after which you should see a password reset window.

Another option is to use the recovery key that you should have written down when you enabled FileVault. Let's be honest, most of us don't do this, but if you did, you can enter the recovery key when asked after three failed login attempts. Be sure to use capital letters and hyphens – they are required.

If you don't reset your password using your Apple ID or recovery key, you will be able to see a window with other system recovery options, such as restoring from Time Machine, reinstalling MacOS, using Disk Utility, and using Terminal. You can click “Terminal”, type “resetpassword” and press “Return” to launch the password reset assistant. If all else fails, you may want to reset your Mac by reinstalling macOS.

Any method we've outlined is an effective way to regain access to your account, or if your child has forgotten their password. Of course, if you can use this to access your Mac, then anyone with access to your computer can do so. You can prevent it, you just have to be more active during setup With storing recovery keys and remembering passwords. Here's how to lock your Mac.

How do I find out my password on my Mac?

For obvious security reasons, the Mac doesn't allow you to view a user's own password. However, you can access and view the passwords and passkeys you've saved for websites, apps, and networks on your device. To do this, if you're using macOS Sonoma or earlier, go to System Preferences and open Passwords. Sign in using Touch ID or enter your user password to continue. If you're using macOS Sequoia, open the Passwords app and sign in.

Now you will see a list of saved logins and passwords. Click Details for any account to view credentials.