Forget your Mac's Password? Here's how you can get back in - CNET

Comparing the new M1 Macs with their Intel counterparts at the CNET Labs Brooklyn outpost. 

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That sinking feeling when you open the lid to your MacBook, enter your password to sign in and it's rejected. So you enter it again, only to have it rejected. Again. It's a frustrating experience, but don't panic. Apple knows that a forgotten password situation is a personal hell that many of us run into, which is why Apple's MacOS software includes tools for this exact situation. 

There are a few different methods you can use, and the road you take to unlock your Mac without a password could depend on whether or not you linked your Apple ID to your user account on your Mac during setup, or if you have one of the new M1 Macs. If you didn't, that's OK, there's still another option to reset your account password. Here's how to get started regaining control over your Mac computer.

Use your Apple ID to reset your password

Ideally, you'll have linked your Apple ID to your user account on your Mac during the initial setup, which will make it possible to reset your user password with just a few clicks. 

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After entering the wrong user password three times, you'll be asked if you want to restart your computer to view the password recovery options. You'll then be asked to sign in with your Apple ID, select the user account you want to reset the password for, and then enter a new password. 

Getting locked out of your Mac is annoying. But don't get too frustrated. 

Óscar Gutiérrez/CNET

Use another admin account

If you share your Mac with friends or family members and they forgot their password, odds are you'll be able to reset it for them. The key here is that you need access to an admin user account. 

Usually, the person who first set up the Mac has an admin account by default, but you can check by logging in to your account and opening System Preferences > Users & Groups and viewing the list of user accounts on your Mac. Just below the user name will be the account type -- if it says "Admin" you can reset user passwords. 

To do so, from that same Users & Groups screen, click on the lock and enter your admin name and password when prompted. Next, select the user you need to reset the password for and then click on the button labeled Reset Password and follow the instructions. 

Remember to write down the new passwords you have to create for fellow users of the same Mac. 

Jason Cipriani/CNET

Recovery Mode is your next best bet

You'll need to boot your Mac into Recovery Mode in order to access the password reset tool. I've found the easiest way to do that is to start by turning your Mac off. 

The trick to getting into Recovery Mode will depend on the kind of Mac you have. For Macs with an Intel processor, press and hold the Command and R keys on your keyboard, then press the power button. Hold in Command+R until you see a progress bar show up below the Apple logo. You can also get into Recovery Mode by restarting your Mac and trying to time the keyboard combo of Command+R, but in my experience, starting with your Mac turned off is the most reliable method.

For the recently released Macbook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini that use Apple's M1 processor, you'll need to turn off the computer and then press and hold the power button until you're presented with an options button. Click it and then select Recovery. (We have a more thorough walkthrough of Recovery Mode on the M1 Macs.) 

With your Mac now in Recovery Mode, click on Utilities in the menu bar followed by Terminal. A new window will show up, waiting for you to enter a command. Type "resetpassword" as one word, without the quotes, and press Return.

Close the Terminal window, where you will then find the Reset Password tool. Follow the prompts, which include signing in with your Apple ID and then selecting the user account you need to change the password for. 

If you use FileVault, you have two options to reset your user account password. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

If FileVault is enabled on your Mac, you're OK

FileVault is an optional MacOS feature that encrypts your Mac's hard drive and all of the data stored on it. You can turn it on during initial setup, or in System Preferences at a later time. 

If you have FileVault turned on, you have two additional options to reset your user password. You can wait up to a minute on the user login screen for a prompt to show up that instructs you to press the power button to restart the Mac into Recovery mode. Follow the instructions to restart your computer, after which you should see a Reset Password window show up. 

The other 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 that, but if you did you can enter the recovery key when asked after three failed login attempts. Be sure to use upper case letters and to enter the hyphens -- they're required. 

Any method we outlined is an effective way of regaining access to your account, or if your child forgot their password. Of course, if you can use this to get into your Mac, so can someone else who has access to your computer. You can prevent that from happening, you'll just need to be more proactive during setup with storing recovery keys and remembering your password. Here's how to lock down your Mac.

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