reset mac computer password with apple id

RESET MAC COMPUTER PASSWORD WITH APPLE ID HOW TO
RESET MAC COMPUTER PASSWORD WITH APPLE ID MAC OS X
RESET MAC COMPUTER PASSWORD WITH APPLE ID MAC OS
RESET MAC COMPUTER PASSWORD WITH APPLE ID UPDATE

If you can’t get into the account at all, you can determine the shortname later on.

Make a note of the user account shortname by opening the Home folder (in the Finder, choose Go > Home) and checking the folder name at the top of the window.

If you’re not turned off by typing highly specific commands, follow these steps: Even now, command-line password reset remains available, making it the most universal approach that will work in any situation.

RESET MAC COMPUTER PASSWORD WITH APPLE ID MAC OS

Now let’s move on to resetting the password!ġ: Use the Command Line - In early versions of Mac OS X, the command line was the best way to reset a forgotten administrator password.

RESET MAC COMPUTER PASSWORD WITH APPLE ID MAC OS X

When the Mac comes back up, Mac OS X should create a new login keychain.

Now enter this command to delete that account’s login keychain, replacing shortname appropriately: rm /Users/shortname/Library/Keychains/login.keychain.

Figure out the shortname of the account you want to reset by looking through the list that results from typing this command: ls /Users.

Once you have a command-line prompt, enter this command to mount the root Mac OS X drive as writable, so you can make changes to the filesystem: mount -uw /.

Numerous lines of status messages will scroll by.

Reboot into Single User mode by restarting the Mac and holding Command-S while the system comes back up.

If you can’t work with Keychain Access because of something like Messages Agent constantly asking for the forgotten login keychain password, you’ll have to resort to the command line, with these steps: A new login keychain will start collecting and storing the passwords for Wi-Fi networks, email accounts, Web sites, and other logins as they occur.

Quit Keychain Access and restart the Mac.

If that button is not present, choose Edit > Keychain List (Command-Option-L), select the login keychain, and click the minus button to delete it.

If you have that button, click it to remove the old keychain and create a new one with the new password.

In newer versions of Mac OS X, you’ll see a button labeled Reset My Default Keychain in the General pane.

Open Keychain Access from /Applications/Utilities, and choose Keychain Access > Preferences (Command-,).

Newer versions of Mac OS X may prompt about this problem at startup otherwise you’ll need to delete the keychain and start it over again, using these steps: Since the keychain is protected by the now-forgotten administrator password, there’s no way to get back into it.

RESET MAC COMPUTER PASSWORD WITH APPLE ID UPDATE

Reset Login Keychain Password - No matter which of these methods you use to reset a forgotten administrator password, it won’t update the password protecting the account’s login keychain, which stores all of the user’s passwords. Which you should use depends on the specific version of Mac OS X, and how the Mac is set up.īut first, there’s an important caveat about any of these methods, related to the login keychain. Let’s explore all the options to reset a password. Starting with 10.7 Lion, you could still call on all those options, but Apple added a method so easy that even an inexperienced user can do it - the Apple ID-based password reset. Because she also couldn’t find the original system CDs that shipped with her iMac, I had to resort to some advanced techniques few home users would ever be able to figure out. Several years ago, I was helping a client upgrade her Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, but she couldn’t remember her administrator password. This article is over four years old and some details have changed.įor up-to-date help, read “ Three Ways to Reset a Lost Admin Password in High Sierra” (5 July 2018).

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RESET MAC COMPUTER PASSWORD WITH APPLE ID HOW TO

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Reset mac computer password with apple id