How to Reset a Forgotten Mac Password
Forgetting your Mac password feels like losing the computer, but Apple provides official reset routes for exactly this situation. Choose the route that matches your setup, and never pay a third party to unlock it for you.
Follow these steps
- Try your Apple ID at the login screen. At the login window, enter a wrong password a few times until a reset option appears, then choose to reset using your Apple ID. Sign in with your Apple ID and password, create a new Mac password, and restart.
- Use another admin account if one exists. If someone else has an admin account on the same Mac, ask them to sign in, open System Settings, then Users and Groups, select your account, and choose Reset Password. This only works from an admin account.
- Reset from macOS Recovery. Restart into Recovery: on Apple silicon, hold the power button until startup options appear, then choose Options; on Intel, hold Command and R during startup. From the Utilities menu, open Terminal only if guided by Apple's official steps, or use the Reset Password assistant if it appears.
- Understand the FileVault note before you reset. If FileVault disk encryption is on, a password reset may require your Apple ID or your FileVault recovery key. If you have neither, your files may stay encrypted and unrecoverable, which is the point of encryption, so keep the recovery key safe in future.
- Set a new password you can remember, and a hint. Choose a passphrase you will remember, add a helpful hint that does not give the password away, and write the password in a password manager or a safe place you control.
- Turn on Apple ID password reset for next time. In System Settings, then Users and Groups, confirm that resetting with your Apple ID is allowed. This makes the next forgotten password a two-minute fix instead of a Recovery session.
What NOT to do
- Do not use a password reset tool downloaded from a random site. Many are scams or malware, and Apple provides the reset routes for free.
- Do not share your Apple ID password or FileVault recovery key with anyone offering to unlock your Mac remotely.
- Do not erase the Mac as a first resort. Erasing solves the login problem but destroys your files if you have no backup.
If you can sign in with a new password, back up your files and store the new password safely. If no reset route works because FileVault is on and the key is lost, Apple Support can advise you, but your encrypted files may not be recoverable.