I forgot my Macbook OS X password! How do I reset the forgotten Macbook password?

Hello everybody! P&T IT BROTHER is here again to help people who have forgotten Macbook password. On modern computers that have either Windows or OS X, there is sign-in feature for security. By entering password for your local computer account, people who do not know your password cannot access to your computer and personal files. Problem is.. your brain isn’t perfect. There are so many things to remember every day.. and sometimes, when you do not use your Macbook for so long time, you forget the password! In case like this, fortunately, there is an easy way to reset the forgotten password for Macbook users! Thank you Apple. You don’t need to format your hard drive. We are going to find out how to reset the Macbook OS X password. This method will work for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and above. Are you ready? Let’s get started!

If you’ve forgotten your password, just try entering the wrong password three times at the sign-in screen. After three wrong answers, you’ll see a “If you forgot your password, you can reset it using your Apple ID” message. Click the button and enter your Apple ID details to reset your password. 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.

Here is how to reset Macbook OS X Password (Reset password with Terminal Utility)

Don’t worry. Not like Windows based computers, you do not need any tools to reset your forgotten password on a Macbook. All you need is how to do it. Here is how to reset password without resetting the whole OS X. By accessing the Recovery Mode, and entering a command using Termial utility will let you reset passwords. Let’s do it!

Quick Tip – OS X Versions and Code Name: OS X 10 beta: Kodiak, OS X 10.0: Cheetah, OS X 10.1: Puma, OS X 10.2: Jaguar, OS X 10.3 Panther (Pinot), OS X 10.4, Tiger (Merlot), OS X 10.4.4 Tiger (Intel: Chardonay), OS X 10.5 Leopard (Chablis), OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, OS X 10.7 Lion (Barolo), OS X 10.8, Mountain Lion (Zinfandel), OS X 10.9 Mavericks (Cabernet), OS X 10.10: Yosemite (Syrah), OS X 10.11: El Capitan (Gala), OS X 10.12: Sierra (Fuji)

• Restart your Macbook.

• When you see the Apple logo, press and hold “Command” + “R” keys together until it brings up the macOS Utilities.

• Click “Utilities” and then click “Terminal“. This will open a terminal where you can enter commands just like Windows Command Prompt.

• Type “resetpassword” and that’s it! No more commands to enter. You don’t need to be a computer expert to do this one. Don’t forget to hit enter key after typing.

• Now, it is time to reset your Macbook password. Choose an account that you want to change password. In this case, we only have one account, and therefore, we only see one account.

• Type new password, and type the same password one more time to confirm. Also, you can type a hint for your password. It will be helpful for you to remember password when you forget this password in the future.

• You are done! Restart your Macbook.

• OS X may ask you about the Keychain. If you forgot your previous Keychain, you will need to create a new Keychain. Click “Create New Keychain“.

• Macbook OS X password reset completed!! We now have access again! If you liked this, share it on your SNS too!

After trying to reset our forgotten password, we realized that it is so much easier to reset password on OS X than Windows operating system. Anyways, thank you for reading this, and we hope all of you successfully completed this resetting password. If you have a difficulties, or problem, feel free to leave a comment below. Don’t forget to follow us our social media. Have a nice day!

Summary – Reset Password

1. Restart your Macbook while pressing and holding “Command” + “R” keys.
2. When you are in “Recovery Mode“, click “Utilities” and click “Terminal“.
3. Type “resetpassword“.
4. Now, you can change the old password.
5. Restart, and create a new Keychain.
6. Done!

Keep your passwords safe

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:

1. 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.
2. Next, choose Disk Utility > Continue > Utilities Terminal.
3. Type “resetpassword” (in one word) and click Return.
4. Go to the main hard drive and choose your user account.
5. 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.

Forgot My Mac Os X Password

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:

1. Log out of your admin user account
2. Choose another account and enter the password
3. Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Lock icon
4. Use the password for the alternative account to unlock
5. 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:

1. Access System Preferences > Users & Groups
2. Click on the Lock icon > user name
3. 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

1. Shut down your computer and use FireWire or Thunderbolt cable to connect another Mac.
2. 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

1. Go to System Preferences
2. Click on Security & Privacy > FileVault
3. Unlock to enter your login and password
4. Select “Turn on FileVault”
5. 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:

1. Launch the utility from your Applications folder
2. Use the search field in the top-right corner to filter for what you’re looking for
3. Double-click on the wanted item
4. 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

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.

1. Download and launch Secrets
2. Proceed through the setup guide
3. To save your first password just click on the plus icon next to the search field and fill out all the necessary information

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.

Forgot Password To Macbook Os X

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 200 best Mac utilities that can help you out in just about any scenario.

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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Forgot Password For My Mac