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In the early years of OS X, the Mac operating system was sold on a DVD. If a user forgot the administrator password, perhaps the simplest way (of several) would be to use that disc to set a new administrator password and regain control of the Mac. Nowadays, there is no install disc provided with OS X, and so an alternative method is necessary.
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To be clear, there are several technical ways to reset the administrator password on a Mac. Some of them are rather Unix-geeky and can make a novice user nervous. For the sake of completeness, I'll reference those methods at the end of this article. For now, we'll start with the easy ones.
I. Use Your Apple ID
When you first set up your Mac or upgraded the OS, The Setup Assistant will ask if you want to allow your Apple ID to reset the user (admin) password. If you did that, the box in System Preferences > Users & Groups was set. See below.
System Preferences > Users & Groups
Now, assuming you've forgotten your password, according to Apple...
If you incorrectly enter your account password at the login window three times, a message appears stating "If you forgot your password, you can reset it using your Apple ID". Click the arrow-in-a-circle icon to bring up the "Reset Password" dialog. Enter your Apple ID and password, then click "Reset Password" to proceed.
However, if you deselected that box, and later forgot your password, you're out of luck. One reason to deselect the box is extreme security. If, heaven forbid, Apple's system is hacked, your admin password could be compromised. On to the next technique.
II. Use Another Administrator Account
One administrator has the power to reset the password of another administrator. If you've previously set up your Mac with two administrator accounts, highly recommended, you can use the second admin account to login in and reset the password for the first administrator whose password has been forgotten. If you can't do that, on to the next technique.
III. Recovery Partition
If the techniques above aren't available, a very neat, simple way to reset the administrator password is to make use of the OS X Recovery Partition. This is a hidden partition on your boot drive introduced with OS X 10.7 Lion, so the technique I'll describe works with OS X 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain Lion, OS X 10.9 Mavericks and OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
(The older method, mentioned in the introduction above, uses the install disc for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and previous. It's discussed in this Apple support article # PH6317. It's no longer being updated by Apple, but if you're still using Snow Leopard or older, it still works.)
As a reminder, the person who first installed OS X on a Mac (or set it up out of the box) is the administrator. In this scenario, it's assumed that the administrator is you, and you know your account name but forgot the password.
Procedure
1. Restart the Mac.
If it's locked up, see: "Frozen: How to Force the Restart of a Mac."
2. Right after you hear the chime, press and hold the Command and the R keys for a few seconds, then release. Soon, you'll see the Apple logo and spinning gear (or progress bar in Yosemite).
This will force the Mac to boot into OS X on the Recovery Partition that was created when you installed OS X 10.7 or later.
3. When booting is complete, you'll see a window of "OS X Utilities." You won't do anything there. Instead, you'll go to the Menu bar at the top and select Utilities > Terminal.
What you see after booting into Recovery Partition.
Don't worry. You won't have to do anything exotic on the Unix command line.
4. In the terminal window type the following and hit Return.
resetpassword
5. A new window will open, like this:
What you'll see after you enter "resetpassword"
Click on the 1) volume of interest, 2) select the desired user account name in the popup. Then enter the new password (twice). A password hint is optional. Click "Save."
6. Go back to the Apple Menu at the top. Select OS X Utilities > Quit OS X Utilities. That will prompt you to restart the Mac.
If all went well, when the Mac restarts normally, you'll be able to log in to the administrator account with the new password you defined in step #5 above. From there you can manage the rest of of the users if necessary with System Preferences > Users & Groups.
IV. Keychain Reset
The OS X Keychain is where all your passwords are kept securely. If you forget your password, you no longer have access to that Keychain. As a result, when you log back in, you'll be asked to reset your Keychain. A new one will be created and unlocked with your new password. Because of that, you'll find yourself re-entering all the passwords that were stored in your old, now inaccessible Keychain. See Apple support article # PH18681.
V. Apple Support Articles
OS X: Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password
OS X Yosemite: About your keychain password
VI. References
For the more experienced user who may want to explore and learn, there is much more material available on resetting OS X passwords. Some of these other techniques are not as simple and should be practiced on a non-mission critical Mac, being mindful of their context and applicability.
Apple Support: Admin password reset
Forgot Mac Password? How to Reset Your Mac Password (with or without CD)
Reset a Mac OS X Mavericks or Mountain Lion Password
Five Ways to Reset a Lost Administrator Password
Finally, if you run into a problem and can't navigate your way out, one thing to try is to contact an Apple retail store nearby. Make an appointment with an Apple Genius, and you'll get the help you need.
Note: Before your take your Mac into an Apple store for any repair or procedure, make sure you've made a Time Machine backup.
Alternatively, you can check the Apple Consultants Network.
Comments
Thank You
This is a very useful article. So good in fact that I think I might print off a hard copy and store it in my “disaster box” just in case.
geoduck: Awesome. I should create one of those boxes myself.
Admittedly my Disaster Box used to hold a lot more. System CDs, Boot USB Drives, Assorted system tools, Assorted hand tools and such. Now with OS-X being on line, and my backups kept on another drive it’s gotten a bit thin. For the most part, it’s just written instructions like this and a network cable. Anything I can’t fix with that likely would take a trip to the Apple Repair Station. Even HDDs have gotten so reliable that when they start corrupting it’s more efficient to just backup-replace-and restore.
One thing I do when I upgrade my Mac(s) is, create 2 bootable USB flash drives. One contains a bootable version of the OS I’m currently running, and the other is a bootable installer of the current OS.
When I set up Macs for family/friends (more than a few) my procedure has been to create the first account with short name “admin” and a suitable password, and then establish a “name” account for everyday use. Sometimes that’s also admin, sometimes not (they have the choice).
But there’s always an admin account that is seldom, if ever, used and therefore at very low risk of compromise.
I follow the same procedure as vpndev.
I always create a =n emergency admin account.
Handy for testing UI & other issues…
Even better is to create a password you cannot forget. I use diceware to generate a very memorable pass phrase, then write it down and store it in a safe just in case.
Hi, I followed these directions and seemed to be successful. I was able to access all of the screens and to enter a new password. I tried it twice - once just hitting save and another reset in the Reset Password window. However, after resetting my laptop I am still unable to access the Admin account using the new password (I made it simple too, idiot-proof I thought). Does anybody have an idea why I just cannot seem to access this Admin account no matter what I do? I’m currently logged in under a Standard account, but forgot (or it’s not working) the password for my one Admin account. Thank you in advance!
Hi, I am new to Apple, in terms of the computers. I just inherited an iMac from a family member. She had someone wipe all of her stuff and install Yosemite. The person set up an admin account and I have the password so I have been learning the system. I would like to rename the computer/admin account, but haven’t been able to find a way to change the name of the user. From what I have read on this forum, it sounds like I should create a second admin user account anyway. I installed my iTunes library from my old PC already, so I assume it would be associated with this initial admin account, is that correct?
Thanks!
E.: You should create a second admin account for yourself anyway. It’s always good to have two admin accounts in case one gets corrupted and unusable.
Your music is tied to your iTunes account name, not the OS X user ID. So you shouldn’t have a problem logging into iTunes and playing your music.
Thanks so much, John. This is very helpful. I will create a second admin account, with a name I prefer!
Hi again, so sorry to ask these basic questions. I have created a second admin account and plan to use it as the “primary” login. The original admin account will serve as the back up.
I had copied my iTunes library onto my iPod Classic from my old PC and moved it to this new iMac while I was logged into the original admin account. Now that I am logged into my new “primary” admin account, I don’t see my iTunes library. Is there a way to access it or move it so that I can use it when I log in. I would prefer not to have to make a second copy of my iTunes library on this iMac since it is about 18Gb. I see now that I neglected to say that most of my iTunes library consists of CDs that I have put into the library, rather than purchases from iTunes. The few items that I purchased through iTunes did show up when logged in to my “primary” admin account.
Hi, I have tried this and everything works fine up to step 3: I do get the window OS X Utilities and I do have the menu bar at the top which does say ‘Utilities’ but I cannot click on it so I do not get a dropdown to click ‘Terminal’
any suggestions?
You are a lifesaver ! Thank you !
When I reach the step where I am supposed to “Select the volume containing the user account”... no volume appear from which to choose from. Thoughts? I read somewhere that possible turning off FireVault would allow it to show up, however without the ability to log in as an administrator, I am unable to try that. Thank you in advance for any assistance!
Hey there,
Macbook Pro 2007 here. I can get to the Terminal and input the ‘resetpassword’ part- but when the new window comes up, there’s no volume of interest to choose there. It’s because I used a different way to wipe the os on it first (I wasn’t aware I would need the original apple id to re-download the OX Lion to the computer). I now don’t have Lion installed, and don’t have the original apple id to dl it, and seems like I can’t change the admin password to be able to re-download the OS. Any chance you know a way to work around this one? Any help would be greatly appreciated! (I wish I would have found this page before wiping the OS…..) Thanks!
Hey there,
Macbook Pro 2007 here. I can get to the Terminal and input the ‘resetpassword’ part- but when the new window comes up, there’s no volume of interest to choose there. It’s because I used a different way to wipe the os on it first I wasn’t aware I would need the original apple id to re-download the OX Lion to the computer. I now don’t have Lion installed, and don’t have the original apple id to dl it, and seems like I can’t change the admin password to be able to re-download the OS. Any chance you know a way to work around this one? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I wish I would have found this page before wiping the OS…..Thanks!
Hey there,
Macbook Pro 2007 here. I can get to the Terminal and input the ‘resetpassword’ part- but when the new window comes up, there’s no volume of interest to choose there. It’s because I used a different way to wipe the os on it first I wasn’t aware I would need the original apple id to re-download the OX Lion to the computer. I now don’t have Lion installed, and don’t have the original apple id to dl it, and seems like I can’t change the admin password to be able to re-download the OS. Any chance you know a way to work around this one? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I wish I would have found this page before wiping the OS….. Thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge - I was in a really tight spot THANK YOU!!!
Thank you! Worked like a charm and saved me a headache.
Thanks for this article. Absolute lifesaver
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