Cant Remember Password For Mac
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- Can't Remember Password For Mac Computer
Due to the robust security within Apple’s new macOS operating system, there is a high emphasis on data protection. Whether you’re simply logging in, downloading new software, or trying to delete files or apps from the hard drive, you will always need to input your Mac password. Here are a few ways you can remember or reset it and get back to using your Mac.
How to avoid forgetting passwords?
Often when Mac users forget their passwords, it’s the consequence of having a cluttered Mac. With an overload of information to sieve through every day, people have a tendency to forget information. So, first and foremost, you should clean up your Mac to make sure your new password is the one entering you into a tidy and organised computer.
With CleanMyMac X, you can remove large and unwanted files, organising your digital folders and clearing your physical headspace. With its smart, one-click cleaning approach and powerful scanning, you can swiftly dispose of useless documents and apps which may even be slowing your Mac down. With CleanMyMac, you can launch a Smart Scan, removing systems junk, photo and file duplicates, and everything else that will clog up your Mac.
Forgot your Mac Password? Reset it Without Losing Data nor Install Disc (OS X 10.5 and older) - Duration: 11:19. Snazzy Labs 1,680,288 views. 10 Mac Tricks You've Probably Never Heard Of! Jun 09, 2014 This video shows how to modify the password to any account using Mac OS X 10.6 or above (Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite). The command that must be. It's especially more realistic if you say know an average password length that your passwords usually are (say you usually use 6 character passwords, you can use a wordlist of just 6 letter words). Though this method would be nullified if you say mix words and numbers at random, or even just add random numbers behind simple words. If you forgot your Master Password, follow the steps below to try to recover it. After you unlock 1Password, you can change your Master Password. If you think you remember your Master Password. If you believe you know your Master Password, but it isn’t accepted, try these steps: Make sure you’re typing lowercase and uppercase letters correctly.
In addition, this amazing tool is free to download, so what are you waiting for?
How to reset a password
Get a password hint
Before resetting your password, you should always check to see if the password hint jogs your memory. The ‘hint’ is a phrase you entered relating to the password when you first set it up, and is triggered once you make 3 incorrect password attempts:
- Open System Preferences (the app with the cog icon).
- Select ‘Users & Groups.’
- Click the Lock icon in the bottom left to make changes.
- Press the Return key 3 times.
The screen will shake each time you press Return, with the third shake generating the password hint which will appear below the Password field. Hopefully this initiates a Eureka Moment making you remember the Login and brings an end to the password perils.
Sometimes though, the hint doesn’t show up. That’s because the Mac wasn’t set up to show password hints in the Login Options – only modified by logging into your Mac. Fortunately, there are an array of other solutions to finding your password.
Change password from another account
In the event that you happen to share your Mac with another person, and they have their own account, you can use their Login to reset your 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.
- Open System Preferences > Users & Groups.
- Click the Lock icon in the bottom left.
- Enter the password again.
- In the Sidebar, select the account with the missing password.
- Click change password.
- Fill in the New Password, Verify and Password Hint fields.
- Click Change Password.
Now, the password for that account has been changed, allowing you to log in using the new password. However, this doesn’t change the password for the Keychain (macOS’s password management system), and you’ll be asked when you log into the account to update the keychain password. This requires you to enter the old forgotten password, so you’ll have to click ‘Create New Keychain’.
This introduces a further problem, because if the other user isn’t the registered Admin, they won’t be able to change the password for you. Luckily, there is an alternative solution to recovering your password.
Use Recovery Mode
Apple provides a tool to replace a Mac’s password through bypassing all of the previous steps. This is the best option if you don’t have a password hint, can’t log in via another account and have completely forgotten your password.
- Turn off your Mac.
- Press the power button whilst holding Command + R.
- The Mac will boot into Recovery Mode – when you see the load bar appear you can let go of the keys.
- Select ‘Disk Utility’ and press Continue.
- Go to Utilities > Terminal.
- Enter ‘resetpassword’ and press the Return key.
- Select the main hard drive.
- Select the User Account (the account you’d like to change).
- Enter a new password and create a password hint.
- Click Save – a warning will appear that the Keychain Password hasn’t changed. Click OK.
- Shut Down your Mac and start it up again. Now you can log in using the new password.
Can't Remember Password For Imac
Protect Your Data
Can't Remember Password For Macbook Air
Due to the fact Recovery Mode provides a nifty means to resetting the Mac password, you may be wary that anyone can hack your Mac – and once someone accesses your Mac, you’ve usually lost control over it. So, it’s a good job there’s some interventions you can make to prevent this happening.

The best way to protect your data is to active FileVault encryption. This means that the Password Reset option won’t become available unless you unlock it with Disk Utility. To turn it on and set it up:
- Choose Apple > System Preferences > Security & Privacy.
- Click the FileVault tab.
- Click the Lock icon, and enter Login credentials.
- Click Turn on FileVault.
Once done, you will receive a Recovery Key and a password, which you should take note of. If you lose these, your data won’t be able to be recovered and will be lost forever.
Another effective way to protect the data on your Mac is to download tried and tested app CleanMyMac X. With automatic clean-ups and regular system monitors, your data is continuously observed and safeguarded from any piracy or hacking.
Use Target Disk Mode
If all else fails, Target Disk Mode can help you recover whatever you can from the lost Mac. Using another Mac, you can access the hard drive on the lost Mac and save any wanted data.
- Shut down the Mac.
- Connect to another Mac using a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable.
- Start up your Mac and hold the T key while it loads.
- This activates Target Disk Mode.
The hard drive from the lost Mac should now appear, allowing you to recover and save wanted data onto the new Mac.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
These might also interest you:
Forgot Your Account Password
For Snow Leopard and earlier
For Lion/Mountain Lion
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow
Can't Remember Password For Mac Book
instructions in the dialog window that will appear.
Or see Reset a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Password and
OS X Lion- Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.
If you are unable to boot from an installer DVD:
(these will only work on Snow Leopard or earlier)
1. Boot to Safe Mode by restarting and after the chime press and hold down
the COMMAND-S keys until a black screen with white type appears.
2. At the prompt, type the following commands pressing return after each
command line:
/sbin/fsck -yf
If you do not receive a 'Filesystem OK' message then repeat this command
until you do. If after seven tries you still do not receive a 'Filesystem OK'
message, then the system is corrupted and needs to be reinstalled.
mount -uw /
cd /private/var/db/netinfo
mv local.nidb local.old
rm ./.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -r now
The second-to-last command above will cause OS X to think that the operating system is newly installed, and when the new owner starts up the computer it will send him/her to the startup wizard where he/she can start a new user without reinstalling.
This last method does not actually change a password. It simply removes the user accounts and lets you create an initial admin account as if the computer were new out of the box.
Mac printer hold for authentication. Reset Admin Password Using The Terminal
You can reset the password by printing out (or writing down) and carefully following these steps.
First, find the short name of the admin user on the machine. The easiest way of doing this is by looking at what the directory is called in the Users folder.
Now, start in Single-user Mode. It should boot into a command line.
Enter these exact lines. Press RETURN after each.
mount -uw /
ifconfig lo0 up
cd /var/db/netinfo
netinfod -s local
Now you'll need that short name. Enter 'passwd', a space, and the short name of the admin. For example, if the admin was rather prosaically called 'imadmin', you would enter 'passwd imadmin'.
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:
Can't Remember Password For Mac Computer
sync
reboot
and the machine will reboot. The admin password should now be changed.
Mar 18, 2013 10:47 AM