User profile for user: erikk2012
erikk2012 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

macbook air 2020 accidentally set to German keyboard and now my dad cant login (need US keyboard)

I am helping my dad login to his macbook air 2020. Somehow it got set to German - Standard and this is a US macbook. I gave him the laptop after using it a few years so I know that it used to work with US keyboard.


Anyway, his macbook login account is locked (probably because it didnt actually handle a shifted character as expected during password entry). The macbook forces us to restart and enter is apple id, however since it has a "@" symbol in the email account.. the "shift+2" is not @ in german keyboard mode...


Does anyone know how to force the password restart screen to switch keyboard mode? I really dont want to factory reset it since he has data on it.. but not sure what options there are?

Posted on May 19, 2025 7:30 PM

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
Community+ 2026
User level: Level 9
71,564 points

Posted on May 19, 2025 9:04 PM

It used to be possible to simply reboot the laptop to get rid of the Password Reset screen (or click the "Exit" button on that password reset screen). When you don't enter the correct password after so many attempts macOS tries to be helpful by having you reset the password. I've always just clicked the "Exit" button or rebooted normally (or if it is an Intel Mac perform a PRAM Reset). It has been a while since I encountered this so it is possible later versions of macOS have changed the ability to ignore the Password Reset altogether.


As for the "@" symbol on the "German Standard" keyboard layout try using Option + Q. If that doesn't work, try Option + L (performed a quick online search and did not test it as I did not want to risk my setup).


Edit: Is there a keyboard icon on the menubar of the login screen? If so, have you tried clicking it to see if it allows you to switch keyboard layouts?

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User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
Community+ 2026
User level: Level 9
71,564 points

May 19, 2025 9:04 PM in response to erikk2012

It used to be possible to simply reboot the laptop to get rid of the Password Reset screen (or click the "Exit" button on that password reset screen). When you don't enter the correct password after so many attempts macOS tries to be helpful by having you reset the password. I've always just clicked the "Exit" button or rebooted normally (or if it is an Intel Mac perform a PRAM Reset). It has been a while since I encountered this so it is possible later versions of macOS have changed the ability to ignore the Password Reset altogether.


As for the "@" symbol on the "German Standard" keyboard layout try using Option + Q. If that doesn't work, try Option + L (performed a quick online search and did not test it as I did not want to risk my setup).


Edit: Is there a keyboard icon on the menubar of the login screen? If so, have you tried clicking it to see if it allows you to switch keyboard layouts?

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macbook air 2020 accidentally set to German keyboard and now my dad cant login (need US keyboard)

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