Forgot my Admin password

Hi Mobbeta,

Apple has a support page to help you reset you password:

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mh35902/mac

Hope this works for you :-)

Thanks for that info. Given that you've forgotten the administrator password, unfortunately it's not feasible to start up in Single User Mode and re-run Setup Assistant, as that mode is blocked by default on your Mac (your Mac contains the T2 Security Chip).

I would try the following:

1. In System Preferences -> Apple ID -> iCloud, disable Find My Mac. This also disables Activation Lock, and now allows you to boot an older version of recoveryOS. (Otherwise, error -1008F would occur.)
2. Connect your Mac to power, and ensure you have a fast Internet connection. These next steps will take a while.
3. Restart your Mac while holding down Shift-Option-Command-R. Release the keys when a spinning globe appears, or when you're prompted to connect to a Wi-Fi network.
   1. What this does: This tells your Mac to boot the version of recoveryOS that was originally shipped with your Mac. Because your Mac was made in 2018, it shipped with macOS High Sierra or macOS Mojave, and their corresponding recoveryOSes don't require admin authentication to access them. This basically lets you install an older version of macOS that you can use to create another administrator account, without needing a password.
4. When the Utilities window appears, select Disk Utility and click Continue.
5. Click View -> Show All Devices.
6. Select the Container in the sidebar, then click the (+) button. Choose these options, then click Add:
   1. Name: Whatever you want, but don't name it "Macintosh HD"
   2. Format: APFS
7. Once the new volume is added, quit Disk Utility and choose Install/Reinstall macOS.
8. When asked to choose a target volume, select the one you just made, then click Install.
   1. NOTE: If this step fails, please stop and let me know. It could be that the T2 Security Chip is set to Full Security, in which case you might not be able to install an older version of macOS. To get back to your data, restart your Mac normally.
9. Wait for the installation to complete. This will take a while, especially as your Mac has to also download the full macOS installer (around 6-8 GB for macOS Mojave).
10. When the Setup Assistant appears, choose not to migrate any data. Then, create a new administrator account when prompted. Choose a distinct username that's different than your normal account.
11. Upgrade to macOS Big Sur.
12. Let me know when you've completed these steps. At this point we'll use the new admin account to reset your normal administrator password.

In the meanwhile, to swap between your normal environment and the test environment you just made, restart your Mac while holding down the Option key.

Thank you for responding Mobbeta,

Apologies, if I was not understanding your issue. (My own Admin login, is one of the three logins to my MacBook Pro.)

If access is unlocked, it may be possible to give Admin privileges to the User account that you can access ? ( I was able to do that with one of the other user accounts through System Preferences > Users and Groups. So there are two Admin user-accounts on this MacBook Pro.)

Thank you to Encryptor5000 for coming to the rescue with your solution.

All the best

Hi Mobbeta,

I'd first try the steps in the article posted by brbo.

If those don't work, what year was your Mac made in? This determines whether it's feasible to start up in Single User Mode.