Blocked macbook with the only one account

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Blocked macbook with the only one account

I can't access my account on my macbook. I've tried all possible passwords (as I guessed), and then account was blocked.

Now it asks FileVault, but I don't remember it. On my devices I also can't find it.

I bought this macbook in official shop. The only one person that used this macbook was me, so no one ever used it except me. No one enter or logged in on this macbook except me.

So it would be really great if there is any possibility to log in without losing my data. And someone would be so kind to open this secret for me.

MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

Posted on Feb 17, 2026 1:03 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 17, 2026 2:44 PM in response to might_might

might_might wrote:

You are right yes, but now it can't really help me.

No it cannot. My post was only meant to get you started with backups once you regain access to the system (whether through a password reset, Filevault recovery key, or clean install).

It is rather strange that there is no possibility to get an access to the device with the only one user and account on it without erasing the data.

Anyway, thank you for your recommendations. It seems I need to muster the willpower and erase...

You mentioned Filevault. If you have your Filevault Recovery key then that can be used to unlock & reset the local macOS user password. Either you were presented with an option to be shown the Filevault recovery key when enabling Filevault, or it may be associated with your AppleID/iCloud.....I'm not sure how this key can be accessed if it was synced to iCloud.

I have used a Filevault Recovery key to access a locked Mac and even reset a password that way. But it requires knowing the Filevault Recovery key. If you don't know it, it is possible it is associated with your iCloud account? I'm not sure how that works.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/filevault-recovery-options-mh35881/mac

The erase is the last resort since you have no backups.

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Answer 2

Feb 17, 2026 8:41 AM in response to might_might

This may help getting access into your Mac's user account:

If you forgot your Mac login password - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Feb 17, 2026 1:09 PM in response to might_might

might_might wrote:

So it would be really great if there is any possibility to log in without losing my data. And someone would be so kind to open this secret for me.

This sounds like you don't have any backups.

If the data is important, then you should have frequent & regular backups of your computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data. Apple makes this easy by providing the Time Machine backup app with macOS, but there are also third party options available as well.

Assuming you can log into macOS again, then the first thing you should do is get started on backing up your computer before anything else happens.

FYI, there are a lot more new ways to permanently lose access to the files stored on the internal SSD of the recent Macs due to all of the hardware, software, and security changes.

@D.I. Johnson has you covered for resetting your macOS user account password.

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