Apple MacBook is not a machine that is vulnerable to malware and hackers, but there are reasons to still password-protect your Mac. Password-protecting your Mac is one of the smartest things to do to keep your personal files away from the prying eyes. However, have you ever wonder if you can regain access to your Mac even when you have lost or forgotten your Mac password?
Forgetting or losing your Mac password can be a stressful experience. Your Mac is now by your side, but you cannot access it or make changes to the operating system. Fortunately, there is always something you can do bypass your MacBook password and regain access to your important files and data.
In this tutorial, we will walk you through the steps to recover your Mac password. Before we dive in, make sure that you now have a modern version of macOS.
Tips to recover your Mac password
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Get a password hint for your password
Before trying to do anything, use your password hint to recover Mac password. After three failed attempts, you will see your password hint if you have already set one. Make the most of your password hint, as it may refresh your memory.
Step one: Head to Apple menu at the top and then select System Preferences. After that, you need to select Users & Groups and hit the lock icon at the bottom left
Step two: Once you are in, press the Return key three times. After the third shake, the password hint will show up below the input field. You now can enter the password to regain access to Users & Groups preferences. (Note that you can try as many times as you like)
If you don’t see the password hint under the input field, there is a good chance that you have disabled it in the Login Options. If you are not sure, head to System Preferences, click Users & Groups > Login Options and make sure that you check the box next to Show Password Hints (Note that you need to log in to change the setting)
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Use recovery mode
Recovery mode is a great tool that allows you to recover your Mac from certain software issues. In this case, recovery mode can help you reset your Mac password, so you can log in your Mac using a new password.
Step one: First off, you need to switch off your Mac. To do this, click Apple menu at the top and select Shut Down from the drop-down menu
Step two: Next up, you now need to press the power button (while keeping the Command-R pressed). Once you do that, your Mac will boot into recovery mode. Make sure that you keep holding all keys until you see the load bar
Step three: On the next screen, select Disk Utility and then hit Continue to proceed. After that, you need to select Utilities and hit Terminal
Step four: From the prompt, enter ‘resetpassword’ and hit Enter. From the Reset Password window pane, select the volume hard drive which contains a password you want to reset
Step five: Select the user account to reset their password. After that, enter your new password into the input field and click Save button
Step six: Head to Apple menu and click Restart. Once your Mac finishes booting up, login using your new password.
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Got any issues during the process? Let us know in the comments below.
