Reset your macOS user password

Author(s): Louis Ouellet


Forgetting your macOS user password can be frustrating, but rest assured, there’s a straightforward way to get back into your account. This guide will walk you through resetting your macOS user password using Recovery Mode.

Step 1: Boot into Recovery Mode

To reset your macOS user password, you'll need to boot into Recovery Mode. Here's how you can do it:

Intel Macs

  1. Restart your Mac.
  2. Press and hold + R as soon as you hear the startup sound.
  3. Keep holding the keys until you see the Apple logo or a spinning globe.
  4. You'll see the macOS Utilities window. Select Utilities > Terminal from the menu bar.

Apple Silicon Macs

  1. Restart your Mac.
  2. Press and hold the button until you see Loading startup options.
  3. Select Options > Utilities > Terminal from the menu bar.

Step 2: Reset the password

Once you're in Recovery Mode, you can reset your macOS user password using the Terminal. Here's how:

  1. In the Terminal window, type:
    resetpassword
  2. press Enter.

Step 3: Reset the password

  1. In the Reset Password utility, select your user account.
  2. Enter a new password and a password hint.
  3. Click Next and then Restart to reboot your Mac.

Conclusion

That's it! You've successfully reset your macOS user password. Remember to keep your password in a safe place or use a password manager to avoid this situation in the future.

Tags

Discussion

Enter your comment. Wiki syntax is allowed:
N X B I P