Your Mac's login password is the key that can unlock much of what you do on your Mac. Of course you need this first to log in. But you also need your password to approve updates, access iCloud Keychain, auto-fill map information in Safari, and change app privacy settings in System Preferences. So if you forget your password, you won't be able to access your Mac. Fortunately, there are several ways to reset your password if you forget it. The easiest one depends on whether you have linked your Apple ID to your Mac. But what if you didn't? How to unlock your MacBook Pro without password or Apple ID? We'll show you exactly how to do that.
Use a different administrator account on your Mac
Do other people use your Mac as well as you do? Maybe you have family members who also have accounts on Mac? If so, and one of them is an administrator account, then you're in luck. Read on to find out how you can use their account to access your account.
- Log in to your Mac with the other administrator account.
- Click the Apple menu and select System Preferences.
- Select Users & Groups from the sidebar.
- Click the 'i' next to your username and then click Change Password.
- Enter the new password and retype it in the Confirm box.
- Click Change Password.
- Go to the Apple menu and select Sign Out.
- Log in again with your own username and new password.
How to Improve Your Privacy on Your Mac
Your login password is just one tool that helps you maintain your privacy when using your Mac. There are plenty of other ways you can prevent others from accessing your private information. One thing you'll need to do is review the permissions you've given apps to access features like your Mac's camera and microphone, screen recording, and the Desktop and Documents folders. You should also clear your recent items list if you e.g. have worked on a commercially sensitive project. Your browsing history, downloads, and search history are also potential weak spots for accessing private data, as are the cookie and cache files that browsers store on your Mac. Processing all this data manually would be time-consuming and very tedious. Fortunately, you don't have to -CleanMyMac XThe Privacy module can scan your Mac, find all this data and allow you to view and manage it with a few clicks. Best of all, it's free to downloadher, so you can try it yourself.
Use FileVault recovery key
If there is no other administrator account on your Mac but you are using FileVault, you can reset your password using the FileVault recovery key. The FileVault recovery key is the string of letters and numbers you received when you turned on FileVault if you chose a recovery key instead of using your Apple ID to unlock your account.
- Try logging into your Mac with a password.
- If it doesn't work, try twice more.
- After the third attempt, you will see a message that says "Restart and show password recovery options." Click here.
- Wait for your Mac to restart.
- If you're given the option to use your Apple ID or FileVault recovery key, choose FileVault recovery key.
- Enter the recovery key when prompted.
- Select the username whose password you want to change if there is more than one user account on your Mac.
- Enter the new password and click.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the password change.
- When you're done, click Restart.
Bridge Password Reset Assistant
If you don't have a FileVault recovery key or can't use it to reset your password, use the Password Reset Assistant. To do this, start your Mac in recovery mode and use Terminal. Please note that you may be asked for your Apple ID and password in step 5. If you are not familiar with it, you will need to exit Password Reset Assistant and restart it in recovery mode if necessary. The process for restarting your Mac in recovery mode varies depending on the Mac you have.
To restart into recovery mode on a Mac with Apple Silicon, shut down the Mac and then press and hold the power button until you see startup options. Click on Settings.
On an Intel-based Mac, shut down your Mac, then press the Power button and hold down Command-R until you see macOS Utilities.
After booting your Mac into recovery mode, follow these steps.
- Click the Utilities menu and select Terminal.
- In the terminal window, type:
reset Password - Press Back.
- If you're asked for the password for an administrator account, click "Forgot all passwords?"
- When the Reset Passwords window appears, click Turn off Mac and then click Turn off Mac again to confirm.
- Enter your new password and click Next. If more than one user account is listed, click Set Password next to each account and enter the new password information for that account.
- When you're done, click Finish.
- Restart your Mac from the Apple menu and log in with the new password.
Erase your Mac
This is the last resort. Erasing your Mac will erase all data and settings on it. If you have a recent backup, especially if it's a Time Machine backup, you can quickly restore your data and settings. If not, you should. Think carefully about using this option.
- Turn off your Mac and then start it in recovery mode.
- Click the Recovery Assistant menu in the menu bar and select Erase This Mac.
- In the Erase Mac window, select Erase Mac and click Erase Mac again to confirm.
- If your Mac restarts and you see a flashing question mark, press and hold the power button to turn off the Mac.
- Reboot into recovery mode and choose Reinstall macOS from the macOS Utilities menu.
When you erase your Mac and reinstall macOS, it will boot up just like it did when it was new. You will need to go through the installation process, including creating a new user account and password. If you have a Time Machine backup, you can use Migration Assistant when it opens during setup to migrate accounts, settings, and data from the backup to your Mac. If you have a backup from another backup utility, you will need to manually configure user accounts and then restore the backup using that backup utility's application.
If you don't remember your Mac's password and it isn't tied to an Apple ID, access can be very difficult, but not impossible. If you use FileVault, there are only a few more steps required. If you don't, it's more complicated, but still possible. Follow the steps above to unlock your MacBook Pro without your password or Apple ID. And of course it works with any other Mac too.
