175195661

Q: reset password

how can I reset the system administrator password?  It is the only administrator on my account. 

Posted on Aug 30, 2015 7:51 PM

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Q: reset password

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  • by Carolyn Samit,

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit Aug 30, 2015 7:53 PM in response to 175195661
    Level 10 (123,770 points)
    Apple Music
    Aug 30, 2015 7:53 PM in response to 175195661

    Help here >  Change or reset a user account password on your Mac

     

    If that doesn't help, you may be able to reset your admin password using your Apple ID >  OS X: Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Aug 31, 2015 8:49 AM in response to 175195661
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Aug 31, 2015 8:49 AM in response to 175195661

    If the user account is associated with an Apple ID, and you know the Apple ID password, then maybe the Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password. In OS X 10.10 and later, this option also works with FileVault, but only if you enabled it when you activated FileVault. It's not retroactive. Otherwise, see below.

    Note: If you've activated FileVault, this procedure doesn't apply. Follow instead the instructions on this page, under the heading "If you forget your password."

    Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities window appears, select

              Utilities Terminal

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen—not from any of the items in the OS X Utilities window.

    In the window that opens, type this:

    resetp

    Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:

    resetpassword

    Press return. A Reset Password window opens. Close the Terminal window to get it out of the way.

    Select the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected. You won't be able to do this if FileVault is active.

    Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.

    Follow the prompts to reset the password. It's safest to choose a password that includes only the characters a-z, A-Z, and 0-9.

    Select

               Restart

    from the menu bar.

    You should now be able to log in with the new password, but the Keychain will be reset (empty.) If you've forgotten the Keychain password (which is ordinarily the same as the login password), there's no way to recover it.