- Jan 15, 2020 1Password is good, but there are many others to choose from, including LastPass, Dashlane, and mSecure.If you want to find more password management options, open the Mac App Store and search for the word password.If any of the apps look interesting, check the manufacturer's website.
- Aug 26, 2018 In case if you set the password and forgot it, you need to visit an Apple Store to regain access to the UEFI password. This is just the theory about UEFI Firmware password. If your Mac is stolen by an expert hacker, he/she may find one method to get into the Mac. Reinstall Mac OS X. Reinstalling Mac OS X is the last but not least method to.
May 26, 2013 The computer will now prompt you to change the password for 'lmadmin' (or whatever the short name was). Go ahead and enter a new password. Now, enter: sync. And the machine will reboot. The admin password should now be changed. Another Terminal Method for Snow Leopard. Reboot the computer and hold the COMMAND and S keys down to enter.
If you forget an account password in Lion or Mountain Lion, there are lots of ways to reset it. The first, easiest way starts like this: Open System Preferences > Users & Groups, click on the lock at the bottom-left of the window to unlock the pane, and then enter an administrator's name and password so you can edit things.
After that, click on the account you've forgotten the password for and choose Reset Password.
Then OS X will ask you to enter the new password.
Seems simple, right? But there are a few caveats here. First, as the box above points out, resetting a lost password won't change the login keychain password for that account. This means that the user's keychain—which stores things like email passwords for Apple Mail, Wi-Fi passwords, and so on—won't be usable unless you recover that original password. Bummer. Unfortunately, you'll have to re-enter all of those passwords in a new keychain, which OS X will prompt your user to create the next time he logs in.
Second caveat: You can't reset the password on an account you're currently logged into unless you know the existing password, so log into a different user account if you need to make changes. (But if the sole administrator password is the one you've lost, see below.)
Lastly, the account you're trying to work with can't be logged in using fast user switching. See how my 'karma' account is greyed out in the second screenshot above, with an orange checkmark next to its picture? That's because it's still logged in, so if I need to reset that user's password, I'll have to log him out first.
OK, so here's a pickle. What if the password you can't remember is your administrator password, and it's the only administrator account on your Mac? That'll mean that when you try to log in as a different user, you can't even unlock the System Preferences pane because you don't know the only existing administrator password! You're totally screwed, right? Well, maybe, but not where your Mac is concerned. If you set things up ahead of time, you can use your Apple ID to reset that password, and I wrote an article on how to do that a while back.
But if you didn't configure that before you forgot the password, you're still OK, because there's a super-secret ninja way to get around those restrictions. You're going to need to log in to your Mac's Recovery System, and you do that by holding down Command-R while your machine's restarting.
(Bear with me—as far as I know, you can't take screenshots in the Recovery System, and I just couldn't bring myself to take pictures with my phone and use them here.)
When you see the Apple icon appear on your screen, you can release Command-R. Once your Mac finishes booting, you should see a bunch of troubleshooting options that are very handy when your Mac's having trouble, like Restore from Time Machine Backup, Disk Utility, and Reinstall OS X. What you want to choose for our purposes, though, is Utilities > Terminal from the menu at the top of the screen.
When Terminal opens, type in the following, all lowercase with no spaces:
Afterward, you'll get a nifty little program in which you can choose the volume (usually 'Macintosh HD') containing the user account with the missing password. You'll then select the account and enter a new password for it.
OK, so I totally lied. That's an ugly picture from my phone. I just can't be trusted, and I apologize.
Choose Save, and you're done! Then just go up to the Apple menu and hit Restart.
As before, resetting the password in this way will not change that account's keychain password, so the worst-case scenario is that you'll lose access to that. I sincerely hope that you know all of your email passwords if that's what happens. In any event, though, pretty much anything is better than not being able to log in at all. Except, perhaps, your Mac blowing up or becoming sentient or something.
Keep your passwords safe
Get Secrets, a secure password manager app for Mac.
We all have dozens and even hundreds of passwords to remember. Your Mac password, like a credit card PIN number, is one of the most important, so it can be a nightmare if you forget it. But it’s not the end of the world. There are a few easy ways you can reset your Mac password and make sure you don’t lose it ever again.
How to recover a forgotten Mac password
Secure experience is something you can’t emphasize enough while dealing with Apple devices. Hence the importance of a safe Mac password. While it could be easy to physically steal a computer, there’s little chance someone can mess with your data unless they know the password. So it’s wise to take a few precautionary measures to avoid losing it and make it easier to recover.
Easy way to reset passwords
Setapp has a reset scenario catered for you if you forget Mac login password. Just saying.
Use Recovery Mode
Hope this is just a “what-if” for you, but let’s imagine it happened. You forgot Mac password and can’t access any of your accounts. There are no password hints and you can’t call it to mind, even though you’ve already tried to enter all pet names. For such cases, there’s Apple’s Recovery Mode.
To activate the Recovery Mode:
- Turn off your computer and hold the power button + Command R. Wait for the loading bar to appear on the screen while your Mac boots to Recovery.
- Next, choose Disk Utility > Continue > Utilities Terminal.
- Type “resetpassword” (in one word) and click Return.
- Go to the main hard drive and choose your user account.
- Lastly, change Mac password, create a hint to easily recollect it in future, and click save. You’ll be able to use the new password after a restart.
Reset password with Apple ID
If you have an Apple ID tied to your user account on Mac, you can use it to reset password from the login window. The option should be available by default. Otherwise, you can enable it in System Preferences > Users & Groups > Allows user to reset password using Apple ID.
To make a go of this, click on the question mark next to the password field that you see on the login screen. Agree to the option to reset with Apple ID and enter wrong login credentials three times to be able to create the new password. Once you get to the reset screen, input a new password two times, create a hint, and save.
Change password from another account
Lucky you if you have more than one user account on your Mac. Or, if your mother/brother/girlfriend/dog ever use your computer to log in to their personal accounts (yes, now you owe them a thank you). Here’s how to recover Mac password, using another account you have a password to:
- Log out of your admin user account
- Choose another account and enter the password
- Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Lock icon
- Use the password for the alternative account to unlock
- Reset the password for your admin account (type in a password > verify > create a hint > save).
Good news: You have a new password. Bad news: You still won’t be able to log in to your account if you don’t have the Keychain password and can’t create the new one. The thing is, to unlock all the features that require Mac Password, you should be able to access the Apple’s password management system, Keychain. Unless you remember the access data, you’ll have to create the new password with an admin account. If the account you used isn’t registered as admin, you’ll have to go for the Recovery Mode option.
Get a hint for your password
If you forgot Apple password, you can recover it with a hint. This is, by far, the most painless way to win back your access. Therefore, we encourage you to create hints each time you choose a new password. It takes a few simple actions:
- Access System Preferences > Users & Groups
- Click on the Lock icon > user name
- Select the option to change password and add a phrase/word you associate with a newly created password in “Password hint (recommended).”
One more important thing. To ensure your password hint shows up when you need it, you should allow your Mac to display hints. In the Users $ Groups, click on Login options and check the box next to “Show password hints.” Ready to go.
To see the hint you created, access User Groups in the System Preferences, unlock to make changes, and press Return three times. After the third time, your hint will appear right below the password field. Unless you’ve created the hint ages ago, this should help to refresh your memory.
Resort to Target Disk Mode
Another option is to access the hard drive of your Mac via another computer. Basically, Target Disk Mode allows you to save any data from the your Mac’s hard drive.
To enter the Target Disk Mode
- Shut down your computer and use FireWire or Thunderbolt cable to connect another Mac.
- Click on the power button while holding the T button and wait for the hard drive to appear on the screen.
That’s it. You can now easily access and recover any data from your Mac.
Always protect your data
Resetting password could make your Mac vulnerable. Particularly, Recovery Mode is kind of a security hole: If someone can get access to your computer, it’s pretty easy to boot into recovery and reset password. To prevent this from happening you should encrypt the data on your hard drive with a built-in FileVault utility. Ensure you unlock Password Reset with Disk Utility and activate FileVault on your Mac.
To activate FileVault in the Apple System
- Go to System Preferences
- Click on Security & Privacy > FileVault
- Unlock to enter your login and password
- Select “Turn on FileVault”
- Save Recovery key and password that you receive upon activating FileVault
Find lost passwords using Keychain Access
In case you’ve lost one of your internet logins or don’t remember the password to your WiFi, it’s very likely that you can recover it using your Mac’s native password manager — Keychain Access.
To recover a password with Keychain Access:
- Launch the utility from your Applications folder
- Use the search field in the top-right corner to filter for what you’re looking for
- Double-click on the wanted item
- Check Show Password and enter the Keychain Password to reveal it
Although Keychain Access can be very useful in finding passwords you thought were lost forever, it’s rarely used intentionally due to its clunky interface and messy save-all password behavior. However, using a password manager nowadays in general is a must. And if you have to start somewhere, look no further than Secrets.
Store passwords on Mac, securely
Grab Secrets along with your Setapp perks and worry not about privacy.
Store passwords using Secrets
Apple Forgot Password App Store
Secrets is a simple but robust password manager that can become your central point of reference when looking for passwords, WiFi passcodes, secure notes, credit card numbers, and other personal information.
The app is supported by the industry-standard PGP encryption so none of your files will ever get exposed. And no, saving your passwords in the Notes app or on paper is not a good idea. Thankfully, Secrets is very easy to use.
Forgot Password App Store Iphone
- Download and launch Secrets
- Proceed through the setup guide
- To save your first password just click on the plus icon next to the search field and fill out all the necessary information
Forgot Mac Password Admin
Additionally, Secrets has an importing feature where you can download all your existing passwords from other managers or even as a simple .csv file. And moving forward, Secrets can be populated through a handy browser extension with a quick built-in password generator.
Taking all the necessary measures to stay safe online is a must. This includes having good password hints for your Mac, knowing how to navigate through the Recovery Mode, and of course using a good password manager like Secrets, which is available for a free trial through Setapp, a platform of over 120 best Mac utilities that can help you out in just about any scenario.