How do you reset an admin password ?

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Level 1

12 points

How do you reset an admin password ?

I did something foolish....was trying to secure my laptop and somehow I did something that now does not allow me to use my admin passwords and the computer has forgotten all my saved passwords. I have no idea what I did! I need to know what to do to reset my admin PW and if there is a way to tell the computer to remember all the passwords. Any help is appreciated.

lizliz

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Mar 3, 2022 6:33 PM

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Answer 1

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Encryptor5000

Level 5

7,662 points

Mar 3, 2022 7:15 PM in response to lizliz

Hi lizliz,

What steps did you take when you were trying to secure your laptop?

In regards to your saved passwords disappearing, that could be the result of one of two things:

iCloud Keychain was disabled or removed, or

If you reset your login password, those saved passwords were tied to your previous password, and thus lost (unless you can recover the original login keychain using the original password)

To reset your admin password, try these steps. I'm assuming your device info is correct and your Intel-based 13" MacBook Pro is running macOS Mojave (10.14).

Start up in macOS Recovery: Hold down Command-R as you power on or restart your Mac. Keep holding the keys until the Apple logo and a progress bar appear.
When the list of utilities appears, go to the top of the screen, and select Utilities -> Terminal.
Type this command and hit Enter (Return): resetpassword
Follow the onscreen instructions to reset your password.

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Answer 2

lizliz Author

Level 1

12 points

Mar 4, 2022 3:30 PM in response to Encryptor5000

Hi Encryptor500,

Thanks for the info! I thought I'd tell you this first before I do what you suggested. In case this helps you to understand what I did. I thought I was just changing settings so I needed a password to open my computer. I can't tell you exactly what I did. :-(

I know my admin password. Whatever I did has caused my computer to recognize the PW as invalid and after that is when all the computer passwords were not remembered. Yes, I have an Intel-based 13" MacBook Pro that is running macOS Mojave (10.14).

lizliz

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How do you reset an admin password ?

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