Can't reset system password for second user

I have an older iMac (2009) running High Sierra. It has two user accounts, one of which is mine and the other my brother. Both accounts are Admin for the computer. I am selling this to my brother and want to delete my account but when booting in to his account, he can't recall his system password that would open the system lock and allow the deletion of my account. I've seen in the Apple Support pages that I should be able to reset his password if my account is the active one but System Preferences will not allow me to access his account to do that. Luckily, the iMac boots to his account automatically without the need to plug in the password but we can't complete removing my account until we can open up his Admin access to it. Any advice would be appreciated.

Posted on Jun 18, 2021 1:25 PM

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Posted on Jun 19, 2021 12:52 PM

@BDAqua, I just came back from working with the iMac and password issue. I was able to open the lock on my brother's account using my Admin password but it also required that I input my user name. Once my brother's account was unlocked, I was NOT able to change his password. It still prompts for the old password which is what he can't recall. I then logged into my account to try and edit his account and it did not allow access even when my account was unlocked. Once I logged out of my account, it brought up the screen showing both accounts for log in purposes and provided the button to change the password on his account using his Apple ID. That was finally successful and we were then able to delete my account. I appreciate your input which was helpful but wanted you to have these details in the event someone else might run into the same issue. Thanks!

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 19, 2021 12:52 PM in response to PMAlvarez

@BDAqua, I just came back from working with the iMac and password issue. I was able to open the lock on my brother's account using my Admin password but it also required that I input my user name. Once my brother's account was unlocked, I was NOT able to change his password. It still prompts for the old password which is what he can't recall. I then logged into my account to try and edit his account and it did not allow access even when my account was unlocked. Once I logged out of my account, it brought up the screen showing both accounts for log in purposes and provided the button to change the password on his account using his Apple ID. That was finally successful and we were then able to delete my account. I appreciate your input which was helpful but wanted you to have these details in the event someone else might run into the same issue. Thanks!

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Can't reset system password for second user

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