Time Capsule Password

Sorry, I am not clear on whether you are saying that you have been using Time Machine on your Mac to back up your files to the Time Capsule all along......or, whether you have a new Mac, and are trying to access the files on the Time Capsule.

In either case, can you "see" the Time Capsule if you open up AirPort Utility?

The reason that we ask, is that you probably do not remember setting up two different passwords on the Time Capsule originally. One of them was a Base Station, or device password....and the other was a Wireless Network Password.

Chances are, you know your Wireless password, but here you are being asked for the Base Station or "device" password for the Time Capsule.

Since you are able to see the Time Capsule in AirPort Utility........

Open AirPort Utility

Select the Time Capsule

Click Edit in the smaller window that appears

Click the Base Station menu item (at the top of the screen, where File, Edit, Window, Help, etc menus are located

Click Show Passwords

All of the passwords associated with your Time Capsule will be displayed. If you set up a Disk Password as well, then it will be displayed here along with the Base Station and Wireless Password (if you set that up). So, it is possible that the Time Capsule can use up to 3 different passwords.

That is the device password, which is the same as the disk password (if you did not set up a separate disk password).

The Mac that you have now.....is it the same Mac that you used to originally configure the Time Capsule? If yes, and you choose the option to have your Mac remember the password when you set up the Time Capsule......you might be able to retrieve the password from KeyChain Access on your Mac.

Open KeyChain Access

Type in "airPort" (without the quotes) in the search box at the upper right hand corner of the window

Look for a listing for AirPort base station password

Double click on the entry

In the small window that appears, enter a check mark in the box next to Show Password

Type in your administrator password for your Mac and the Base Station password will appear

If that still won't work, then your next option would be to perform a Soft Reset on the Time Capsule and reset the Base Station password to a new word. It might be a good idea to write that down.

Resetting an AirPort base station FAQ - Apple Support

If that won't work, then the next, and final option would be to perform a Hard Reset on the Time Capsule and then set it up all over again from scratch. This procedure will not affect the stored data on the Time Capsule hard drive.

Glad that the backups have been "found".

If you care to say, I would be curious as to which item was the key.......whether that was locating the long lost base station or device password, or whether resetting the device password was the ticket.