How to recover or reset administrator account password on a Mac computer?

Nowadays, most of the systems we use require a password to login. macOS operating system is not an exception. When you're setting up your new Mac, you will be asked to create an administrator account protected with a password whichever you choose. Despite the fact, that you're creating a hints together when signing up, often users set them randomly, and when they should help to remember the password, it won't. Forgotten password is just one example, why you would want to recover or reset the Mac's administrator password.

Jan 15, 2020  If you don't remember that password either, try one of the other methods outlined below. Log in to a second administrator account. Launch System Preferences, and select the Users & Groups preference pane. Click the lock icon in the bottom left corner of the preference pane and enter your administrator password. Or, if you have a different account on the Mac that you know the password to, you can recover your Mac admin password by following these steps: Click on the Apple logo in the top left of the tools bar and click Log Out. Select the alternative account and enter the password.

Since, it's basic protection for your computer and all the private information within it, there are no straightforward ways to recover your forgotten password via email or anything similar. however, there are a couple of ways to reset or recover lost administrator account password. What is more, these methods are quite simple and even not experienced Mac users will be able to perform them. Note that the easiest method will require an accessible Apple ID and proper settings on your Mac. In this article, we will describe the most common methods to reset or recover Mac's administrator account details, and required settings to succeed with each method.

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How to change administrator log in details on Mac

Changing your account password periodically is a good prevention against any kind of unauthorised access to your computer and personal data. If you're using Mac in a work, it is recommended to keep changing log in details from time to time, to prevent from any unwanted access. Sometimes users attempts to change their password, because they are suspecting that password might have been stolen. There are cases when people realize, that using a pet's name or any other family member's name as main password is not a really good idea. There might be a lot of reasons, why people decides to change their account password. To begin procedure, first open Mac's System Preferences, then select Users & Groups. When application launched you will see a list of all existing users. Select the account that you want to change password and click the Change Password.. button. In a new window you will be asked first to enter the existing password, then in the next two lines you have to enter the new one and repeat it again. In last line you will have an option to update your hint, we recommend to enter the associated hint, in case you forget your newly created password.

Reset Keychain Access log in password

Keychain password is a little bit tricky thing, since it is associated with administrator password. However, if you reset or recover your Mac's administrator log in details, the Keychain password stays the same, which you lost or forgot. This mean, when you attempt to access all your saved password you still have to enter the old, lost password. The only actual solution in this case is reseting the keychain password, however this results in loss of all saved credentials until you log in with them again. To reset Keychain password open the application and click on the title in the menu at top of your screen, then select Preferences. Alternatively, you may use keyboard shortcut of Command and , when application launched. If you're running on one of the latest mac OS version you will see a button titled Reset My Default Keychains, click to proceed. Otherwise click Edit, select keychain list or keyboard shortcut of Command, Option, and L, then select the login keychain and click on remove (-) button to delete it.

Close your Keychain Access application and restart your Mac computer. After reboot your Keychain will be associated with new administrator password and begins to collect all your password whenever you log in using them. In case you can't work reach the reset button or edit menu in the Keychain Access application, because various warning messages or log in requirements keeps popping up, you can reset it through Mac's command line mode. First, boot your Mac into single user mode, by restarting the computer and holding down Command and S buttons while booting. Release the buttons when you see a lot of status messages on your screen with black background. Once the single user mode has booted and status messages stopped appearing type the following command to mount your operating system as writable, so you will be able to make changes to the filesystem: mount -uw /

Next step would be, to find out the shortname of the account you want to reset, which can be done by checking the list of existing users with command ls /Users

Once you know the exact shortname of the user, who's Keychain password you're going to reset, replace it with the 'shortname' in the following command and hit return: rm /Users/shortname/Library/Keychains/login.keychain

Last step would be to restart your Mac by typing in the command reboot. After reboot your keychain will automatically creates a new password associated with the changed administrator log in details.

Reset your administrator account password via Apple ID

Probably the simplest method to reset your lost or forgotten log in details would be to use your Apple ID as a verification method. This option appeared with the Mac OS X version 10.7 and became popular and useful, since Apple ID is used to verify iTunes and App Store purchases. This is probably the main reason, why users remember or contain notes with at least Apple ID's password. This probably looks like a great opportunity, however there is some additional requirements, in order to use this feature it must be enabled in your settings. To check if this function is active open your System Preferences and choose Users & Groups, select your Mac's administrator account and check if there is a checkmark, next to 'Allow users to reset password using Apple ID'. Otherwise, enable the function by clicking in the square.

To access this function, you have to enter the wrong password three times while attempting to log in with administrator account. After three unsuccessful attempts the question mark will appear in the password field together with the popup message displaying 'If you forgot your password, you can reset it using your Apple ID'. Choose option to reset your password using your Apple ID, enter the credentials and click create new admin password. Restart your computer, and use newly created password to access your administrator account. In case you realized you don't remember your Apple ID's password as well, you visit Apple's website to recover it's password via traditional email based method.

Use another account with administrator permissions to reset your password

Since Mac OS X version 10.4 Apple included a function, that allows to manage administrators account details through another account that contains same permissions. This function was well approved by most of IT engineers and some experienced users, since it is much easier to recover lost passwords of main computer's accounts. To reset lost password first, log in to account, that's password you know. Once your Mac completely booted open the Systems Preferences and launch Users & Groups application. Select the user, which password you lost or forgot and click Reset Password. In the new window enter new password, verify by entering same password again and update hint, that could be useful in feature and confirm your action by clicking Change Password. Now you can log out and then log in into your account by using the newly created password to access your personal content.

Start Recovery Partition to reset administrator password

This method is a great opportunity in case, when you can't log in to any user on your computer. 0010Since Mac OS X version 10.7 there is some hidden administrative tools, that might be used without signing in. In this case Recovery Utility menu would help you. To access this tool first reboot your Mac, immediately after you hear start up chime hold down Command and R keys. When you see a Mac OS Utilities window, release the keys. Next step would be to click on Utilities in the menu at top of your screen and select Terminal. Once terminal launched you will only need to type in command: resetpassword and hit return.

The new window will appear, giving an access to change password just, like from Users & Groups application. First you have to select your start up drive, then select the administrator account. Click the Change Password button and fill in the new password lines. Type in your new password twice and update the hint. Bear in mind, that hint should help you to remember the password. Click save and select restart option from the main menu in the top of your screen. Let your Mac boot in a usual way and sign in using, your new password.

Use the installer CD or DVD

This step is an alternative for users, who's still running on Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard or earlier. You can reset your administrator password using the install disc, however this method won't work with Mac OS X version 10.7. To reset the password using the install CD or DVD, first restart your Mac, when your computer starts booting, insert the disk and immediately hold down the C key on your keyboard. This will demand your Mac to boot from the disc's version of Mac OS X. Click on Utilities in the menu at top of your screen (or Installer if you're running on 10.3 Panther version) and choose Reset Password. Further, you have to select hard disk volume, and the name of the original administrator account. (Do not try this method with Root account.) Type in the new password, then click Save. Quit Installer menu and reboot your Mac in a usual way.

Recover your administrator password via FileVault

Together with Mac OS X version 10.3, Apple has introduced a content protection feature called FileVault, which uses AES-XTS encryption mode. While this application performs your storage encryption, it automatically generates a recovery key. This key might be used to reset your administrator account password. To begin with, ensure the FileVault is enabled by visiting System Preferences, select Security and Privacy and choose FileVault tab. Next, check if you have access to recovery key, then restart your Mac. When you're at login screen, select the administrator account and click on the question mark button in the password field. Next, select option Reset it using your Recovery Key, and enter the recovery key created by FileVault. Now you can type in your new password, once filled click Save. Finally, log in with your newly created password.

Use single-user mode to reset your administrator account password

This method might look confusing from a first look, but it's probably the leading method between experienced Mac operating system users. However, if you pay attention at commands we describe below you will succeed quite easy and fast. Bear in mind, that upper and lower case and space between word is important here, we recommend to take a note or photo of commands we listed below. To begin with, shut down your Mac, then start it up and hold down Command and S to boot your computer into single-user mode. Release the buttons when you see a lot of status messages on your screen with black background. Once the single user mode has booted and status messages stopped appearing type the following command to mount your operating system as writable, so you will be able to make changes to the filesystem: mount -uw and hit return.

Next type in 'launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.opendirectoryd.plist' (without quotes) and hit return.

Further, type passwd username and hit return, replace the 'username' with the name of your administrator account. Enter the new password and hit return, then type your new password again to confirm and hit return.

Finally, type reboot and hit return, now you will be able to sign in with the new password, when you Mac boots.

Use Target Disk Mode to transfer content from locked Mac

Finally, if you're about to loose a hope, and none of these methods could reset your administrator account password, there still is a way to access the content stored in your locked Mac. By using Target Disk Mode you can transfer the content between Mac computers directly, just like from any external storage. This way you can save your important files, before you perform a fresh installation of Mac OS. To turn on the Target Disk Mode you have to follow couple simple steps:

• Completely shut down your locked Mac.
• Connect your computer to another Mac by using FireWire or Thunderbolt cable (unfortunately, you can't use this feature with the regular USB cable.)
• Turn on your locked Mac and hold down the T key while booting.

Followed by these steps, your computer, which you can't access will become as external storage, and you will be able to see it in the other Mac's finder listed as hard drive. Descargar outlook express para mac 10.6 8. There you will access all content stored on the locked Mac, so you can transfer any required files from it.

Video Showing how to reset administrator password on a Mac: