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MacBook Pro won’t accept password to unlock after macOS Monterey update

Hi my MacBook Pro just did the MacOS Monterey update last night and since has shut me out. It does not recognise my log in password. I’ve tried restarted, rebooting, changing password etc but nothing seems to be working. I know the password is correct it just will not accept it and it will just restart itself randomly. And when I get the option to change password and try it it doesn’t work. It’s less than a year old.


any help would be much appreciated

Posted on Jan 10, 2022 10:13 AM

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Posted on Jan 17, 2022 8:47 AM

I am having the exact same problem. The problem isn't with with my ability to reset my password, or even knowing what my password is - the problem is that my Mac won't recognize my correct password even after resetting it. The problem commenced immediatey after updating the OS Update and isn't recitified through any of the disk utility options or setting a new password.


Any guidance would be much appreciated as this laptop is currently a paper weight.

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Jan 17, 2022 8:47 AM in response to ryane77

I am having the exact same problem. The problem isn't with with my ability to reset my password, or even knowing what my password is - the problem is that my Mac won't recognize my correct password even after resetting it. The problem commenced immediatey after updating the OS Update and isn't recitified through any of the disk utility options or setting a new password.


Any guidance would be much appreciated as this laptop is currently a paper weight.

May 14, 2022 1:57 PM in response to janiene80

I also faced the same problem today. After hours research and trying all suggestions here didn’t work for me. For me when I enter the correct password. It jitters and no option for recovery found. Those shortcuts in replies also didn’t work. Contacted support and got this link. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh35902/mac

which was pretty useful.


I did below to reset mine.


1. Shutdown Mac

2. Press and hold power button to find boot options

3. Choose Options from screen

4. On the Menu bar. Select Utilities and click on terminal

5. In the terminal window. Type. resetpassword

6. Next. A dialog opens which will allow you to reset password

Jan 25, 2022 3:04 AM in response to janiene80

Exact same problem as all the users above!


For clarity, I am able to reset the password using Recovery Mode and my Apple ID, but then upon restarting, the MacBook simply will not recognise the new passwords I’m choosing - and it’s not that the system is freezing or timing out, as the password box shakes as though I’ve definitely input the wrong password!


Don't think I’ve got many more options that completely erasing my Mac now, unless we get a more meaningful reply on here.

Feb 15, 2022 8:38 AM in response to rob154

Same problem with my MacBook Pro after upgrading to Monterey. I tried to do what other guys did but it didn't work on mine. This one did the magic, i typed my password slowly one by one making sure every character may be recognized and it did. I was able to login in this way. Thanks for sharing.

I am not upgrading my iMac to Monterey, not yet.

Feb 21, 2022 1:16 AM in response to UHelpM

had same thing. looked like it didn't complete the installation. i shut down, then restart holding: command + option + P + R altogether holding until 2nd restart. resets PRAM(NVRAM). my computer then went on to restart several more times which yeah was worrisome, however after it completed what it needed to do was working normally again.


hope this helps.

May 18, 2022 1:59 AM in response to janiene80

Could this be the same as the problem described here?

Apple ID username or password is "… | Apple Developer Forums


Solution there is:

There seems to be an issue with two-factor authentication. I had the same and fixed it this way:


  1. Enter your Apple ID and password when logging in to the App Store.
  2. It will tell you that you entered your login information incorrectly. Disregard that.
  3. On one of your other, trusted devices, click on "Allow Login" and note the 6 digit code it gives you.
  4. Now, try to login again but add the 6 digit code to the end of your password.

For example, if your password is pw123, and your 6 digit code is 987654, your new password should be: pw123987654

Jan 27, 2022 4:40 PM in response to janiene80

This happened to me a week ago, with a 2019 MBP with Intel chip. Exact same issue - recovery console, reset password, all good. No ability to log in. Spent a good amount of time on the phone with Apple support, and they have no idea. I did a network re-image so I could roll back to Big Sur - Apple tried to get me to just wipe the disk and start with Monterey again! UH, NO.


Do yourself a favor and wipe the disk and then reinstall your last OS, then use Migration Assistant with Time Machine (hope you all have good, current Time Machine backups).


Good luck everyone!

Jun 21, 2022 10:15 PM in response to janiene80

For anyone that comes across this issue, the following steps worked for me.

  • reboot mac to recovery, open terminal, type: resetpassword
  • this will bring up the password reset utility which you will need to enter your admin password to get into.
  • reset your password, restart computer, attempt to install MacOS Monterey update again. Your password should now be accepted.


Please note, I had another user set up on this computer as an admin so I was able to use their account password to get into the password utility in recovery.


Good luck!

-J

Jan 31, 2022 2:21 PM in response to PHSchmidt

Thanks for all of your replies. I managed to unlock laptop and get in but my laptop then kept overheating and crashing every 5 mins or less, which it has never done before the update. I phoned Apple support and they were great with trying if you figure it out but because my laptop kept crashing and restarting I ended up having to take it in store to be looked at. Turned out to be logic board failing and Touch Bar. Apple replaced and seems to be working normally again.

Feb 21, 2022 1:15 AM in response to janiene80

had same thing. looked like it didn't complete the installation. i shut down, then restart holding: command + option + P + R altogether holding until 2nd restart. resets PRAM(NVRAM). my computer then went on to restart several more times which yeah was worrisome, however after it completed what it needed to do was working normally again.


hope this helps.

Feb 3, 2022 3:43 AM in response to PHSchmidt

I've run into this issue as well on my iMac 27" 2017 Intel. I'd my Magic Keyboard plugged in for loading. Just entered my password several times and it was always wrong...


Then I typed slowly, one by one character and looked that the password field got updated. Guess what. Some characters were "lost" when typing and I'd to type some characters 2 times. I saw that the password field was updated really slowly sometimes. I typed some characters and after 1 or 2 seconds the password field updated - with some lost characters on it's way.


Monterey is so buggy, it's not fun anymore Apple.


BTW I installed Monterey on an external USB 3 SSD, don't know if this has something to do with this issue.

MacBook Pro won’t accept password to unlock after macOS Monterey update

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