How To Reset Password on Mac ios – Step-by-Step Guide
Duration: 45 minutes
Steps: 7 Steps
Forgot your Mac password? Need to create a new admin account but can’t remember any admin passwords? Or maybe you just want to revisit the Setup Assistant? No worries! This guide will help you outsmart your Mac into thinking it’s brand new, all without losing your precious data. Just a heads up: if you have a Firmware Password enabled, you’ll need to disable it for this to work. And if FileVault is on, this guide won’t be your friend! Also, keep in mind that these steps won’t work on Macs with an Apple T2 Chip or Apple Silicon processors like the M1. If you need help, you can always schedule a repair.
Step 1
– First things first, let’s power down your Mac! Give it a little rest.
– Now, press and hold those Command + S keys while you give the power button a little press. Time to wake up your Mac!
– Pro tip: It’s best to start holding those keys before the screen lights up or you hear that sweet startup chime. If you spot the Apple logo, oops! You’ll need to shut down and give this step another go. Just a heads up, on Macs with a T2 chip, that Apple logo will pop up the moment you turn it on.
– You should be greeted with a black screen showcasing some white text. Nice and simple!
Step 2
– When the text comes to a halt, keep an eye out for a line that says “localhost:/ root#” at the bottom. If it’s playing hard to get and you don’t see “localhost:/ root#”, just give that enter key a little tap.
– Now, type in “mount -uw” and let the magic happen!
– A bit more text will pop up on your screen. Once you spot the “localhost:/ root#” at the bottom again, you’re all set to move on to the next step!
Step 3
Remember, this is case sensitive!
Make sure to add a space between ‘rm’ and ‘/’ to avoid that pesky ‘no such file or directory’ error.
Heads up! This method won’t work if FileVault is turned on for the startup disk.
– Go ahead and type in, “rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone” and hit that enter/return key like a pro!
Step 4
– If you see a prompt that says “override r——- root/wheel for /var/db/.AppleSetupDone?”, just type in “y” and hit enter/return like a pro!
– You might encounter an error that says, “rm: /var/db/.AppleSetupDone: read-only file system.” Don’t sweat it; you’re doing great!
– If you don’t spot that message about overriding, just keep on cruising to the next step!
Step 5
– Type ‘reboot’ and hit that enter/return key like a pro!
Step 6
– Your Mac is about to reboot and take you to the Setup Assistant! Get ready to set up your Mac just the way you like it.
Step 7
– Congratulations! You’ve just set up a shiny new user account with full administrator privileges. No worries about the other accounts you had before; they’re all safe and sound, just like your favorite pair of sneakers.
