How To Reset Login Password On Macbook Air

Dusting off and powering up an old MacBook only to realize you can't remember the password is a frustrating experience. Each failed login attempt can cause confusion and even panic.
The need to reset or recover your admin password for your account can happen for a variety of reasons - we were once in this position when we messed around with settings on our Mac and then forgot.
Reset your Mac login password. Sometimes a login password needs to be reset—for example, if you have forgotten the login password and can’t use a password hint to remember it. When a user’s login password is reset, a new default keychain is created to store the user’s passwords. See About your keychain password.

Later, after your MacBook Air has been reset to its factory settings, you can restore this backup by re-connecting your external hard disk to the Mac and then following the onscreen instructions. Time Machine is generally recommended for most MacBook Air users, but it doesn't do everything a backup app could possibly. So, if you’ve forgotten the password to your account, here’s how to reset a Mac password: Note: I’m demonstrating this on a MacBook Air running macOS Sierra 10.12.4 developer beta. This article is primarily aimed at Macs running any version of macOS Sierra.

Just like Windows, Mac is another operating system that is being used by millions of people around the world. At certain points, it considered better than Windows. However, the fundamental usages on both are quite similar. Just the way of doing things is different. In this article, I am going to explain how to reset your Mac login or admin password if you forgot it by chance.

There are certain ways and methods that you can employ to reset the password of you Mac OS X in case you forgot it. There might be many ways of resetting the Mac password but I am explaining the three ways that I am familiar with.

Method 1: Reset Mac Admin Password Using Your Apple ID

One of the simplest and easiest ways to reset Mac OS X password is resetting by using your Apple ID.Now since you forgot your password, just enter wrong passwords many times on the login screen, and you will see a message just as you can see in the screenshot below that states that you can reset the password using the Apple ID.

There you can also see a small arrow that you have to click to reset the password. Follow the on-screen instruction, and in few minutes you will be able to reset your password. This method is simple and effective! I prefer this one over any other method, and that is the reason, I kept this on the top on my list.

Note: This method will work only if you already have the Apple ID linked to your account. If you're Windows 10 user, don't forgot to check our other guide for Windows 10 password reset.

Method 2: Mac OS X's Password Recovery Utility To Reset Your Password

Mac OS X has inbuilt password recovery utility that you can use to reset the password.

Follow the steps below:

1) Start your Mac computer by pressing the Power button.

How to reset login password on macbook air

2) Press Command + R immediately to boot your Mac computer to recovery drive.

Step 3. Now you will see the recovery utility screen. Select Terminal from Utilities Menu. Then type the command: resetpassword in the Terminal.

Step 4. Press the Enter button, and the Password Recovery Utility will be opened. There you have to select the volume that contains the user account which is by default: Macintosh HD. Enter a new password, and click on save.

Important Note: Keep the Terminal open while doing all this process.

Step 5. Restart your Mac computer, and when it asks the password, enter the password you have just set in step 4, and you will be able to log in.

Method 3: Use Terminal To Reset Your OS X Password

Before you get on to try this method, let me tell you a few things:

1. This method will create a new admin account, and then you can use that account to reset your existing account's password.
2. Though this method is well tested, you must have the backup of your data. And, we don't take any responsibilities of any damage that may happen (in rare cases) while carrying out this method.
3. Try this method only if no other method works for you.

Follow the steps below to carry out the password reset using Terminal:

Step 1. Press power button to turn your Mac On. And Press and hold Command + S

Step 2. Doing this will open the Terminal in single user mode. If you see the below screen, you are successfully entered into the single user mode of Terminal.

Step 3. Now, you need to execute a set of commands one by one that I have listed below. Remember, after every command you type, you have to press the enter button to execute that command.

mount -uw /

rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone

Nc35 mac to fenty. shutdown –h

Step 4. After the last command, your Mac will be shut down. Press power button to start again. You will see the Mac startup screen. Follow the steps that are narrated by your Mac to create an admin account.

Step 5. Now, you will be logged in using your new admin account. Go to Users & Groups from System Preferences.

Step 6. Now, Click on the lock icon to authenticate. And enter the admin user and password you have just created.

Step 7. Now you will see all the user accounts that are present on your Mac. You just have to select the account which password you need to reset, and just do it.

Once you are done with the resetting the password of the account, you may log out of the newly created admin account, and log in with the account which password you have just reset using the new password.

Verdict

These are the three best ways to reset the Mac login password when you forgot it. For better security, note down your password somewhere, and keep that safe! Hope you like these methods.

Oct.18, 2016 17:11:32 pm / Posted by Vicky Tiffany to Windows 7

Mac OS is one of the most secured operating system provided by Apple. The protection mechanism is akin to all other operating systems, but the registry files accountable for creating the security barriers are a bit different, rather crude to bypass. So if you have forgotten your password on iMac or Macbook, it might be a bit difficult way ahead for you to access the system again if you don’t have the knowledge of the convoluted operating system.

Generally, besides login, Mac password is used for various other reasons, such as, during installing softwares, rendering serious changes in the system settings, or while deleting system files. But here we would confine our excursus on how to bypass the Mac OS password to gain access into the system. The discussion hereby would involve 3 essential methods which would help you inevitably to resolve your issue.

Method #1: Password Hint for Your Mac Login Password

Before you proceed with resetting your password anew, and replace it with a new one, you better try out the password hint which might refresh your memory after a while. In fact there is no limit to the number of times you can enter the password hint, and after 3 attempts Mac OS will provide you the password hint (Password Hint is a phrase or sentence extract which you had entered into the hint box while setting up the password in the first place). Infuse the steps mentioned below to carry out the method accurately:

Step 1. Firstly open “System Preferences” from the “Apple” logo.

Step 2. Select “Users and Groups” category.

Step 3. From the bottom left corner, click on the “Lock screen” icon.

Step 4. Press the “Return” key 3 times in a row. The screen will shake every time you press the “Return” key. After the third shake, the password hint will be displayed below the “Password field” which you can use to try out your luck.

The best part about this method is that there is no limit to the number of password trials, so you can keep trying until you get to recall it fully. But if the method is not helping you anyway, then you better skip to the next methods refined ahead.

For windows user: How to bypass Windows 10/8/7 login password Macbook pro commands.

Method #2: Change Password from Another Account

If you have set up multiple accounts in your device, or share your device with another user which might have created another account in the same system, then you can use this separate account to change the password of your own locked down account.

The steps are laid out as follows:

Step 1. Click on Apple’s logo and then choose log out from the top left corner.

Step 2. Select an account you know the password to and enter the password thereby to gain access to the account.

Step 3. Go to “System Preferences” and click on the “Lock” icon at the bottom left corner of the screen.

Step 4. Enter your password again and then choose the specific account that you have forgotten your password for from the side pane.

Step 5. Now; click “Reset Password” and fill up the fields and the “Password hint” field.

Step 6. Finally click “Change Password”.

And you are done! You can now access the account with the newly created password.

Also read: 2 ways to boot your Mac into safe mode

Method #3: Use Recovery Mode to Recover Mac Password

Besides providing all the essential luster to the fundamentals of the operating system, Apple provides a tool, that is “Recovery Mode” for Mac OS or Mac OS X, depending upon which version you are currently using, you can use it to recover your forgotten Mac login or admin password.

Step 1. Press the power button of your device and while doing so press and hold the “Command-R”. This way Mac will boot into the Recovery Mode. Once the load bar is visible you can let go of your hold of the buttons.

Step 2. It will take a few minutes to load, and after it is loaded, choose the “Disk utility” and press “Continue”.

Step 3. Go to “Utilities” and then select “Terminal”.

Step 4. Now; in the empty field, enter “resetpassword” just in the exact manner and press “Return”.

Step 5. Choose the Volume which is your main hard drive containing the account.

Step 6. Now; select the account you wish to change the password of by “Select the User Account”.

Step 7. Enter your password and re-enter it for confirmation.

Step 8. Enter a password hint for future use and click “Save” to save the changes.

Step 9. A warning would appear notifying that the password has been changed but not the Keychain password. Click “Ok” to finish.

Step 10. Finally, click on “Apple” logo and then “Shut Down”.

Now, start your Mac OS and enter the previous account with the new password.

Conclusion:

As you can see all the mentioned methods above in the article are very easy to put to use if you have the basic expertise of how to handle an Apple device. Out of all the methods, recalling the password using Password Hint is a very tedious and time consuming method, and at some point of time may prove to be futile, thus Recovery Mode is the best option that you can heed to reset your forgotten password. Hope you had a great time knowing the ways to recover your login password on iMac or Macbook.