If you have forgotten the administrator password for your Mac computer, you may face trouble signing in to your account or carrying out any task which requires an administrator password. Fortunately, you can easily reset your administrator account password by following any of the method mentioned below.
Methods to Reset Administrator Account Password on Mac
Method 1: Using an Existing Administrator Account to Reset Another Administrator Account
If you have a second administrator account and have access to it, you can easily reset the password for another administrator account. Here are the steps that you need to follow:
1.) Sign into the administrator account for which you have access.
2.) Once you are logged into the administrator account, open System Preferences and select the User and Groups preference window.
3.) Next, click on the Lock icon located at the lower-left corner of the preference window. You may need to provide your administrator password.
4.) Then, select the administrator account for which you wish to reset the password from the left-hand side panel.
5.) Click on the Reset Password button located in the right-hand window and then enter your new password for the account in the fields that drop-downs on your screen.
6.) After that, click on the Reset Password button on the drop-down window. The password for your forgotten Administrator account will be reset.
NOTE: When you reset the password this way, a new keychain file gets created for the user account. In order to use the old keychain file, you will need to follow the instructions provided in the following method.
Method 2: Resetting Administrator Account Password Using Your Apple ID
If you are using X Lion OS, you get an inbuilt feature in it which allows you to reset your administrator account password. With this feature, you can even reset the password for any user account type such as standard account, sharing account, or managed account. Here are the steps to reset administrator account password.
NOTE: Make sure that the Apple ID you are going to use to reset the password is associated with that account.
1.) When you will enter the wrong password three times at the sign-in screen, you will get a message for your password hint on the screen along with an option to reset your password using Apple ID. So, click on the button next to the option which reads …..reset it using your Apple ID text.
2.) Next, enter your Apple ID and password and then click on the Reset Password button. This will display a warning message on your screen.
3.) In the warning message, you will be notified that resetting the password will cause a new keychain file to be created. This means that you will need to provide passwords again for different services which you might be using. This includes services such as email accounts and websites for which you might have set up for automatic log-in. Simply click on the OK button to reset the password and close the warning window.
4.) Now enter your new password and also the hint for it. Then, click on the Reset Password button.
5.) You will be logged into your account and will be directed to the Desktop screen.
Method 3: Reset Administrator Password Using an Installation DVD or Recovery HD Partition
1.) To begin, restart your Mac with appropriate media and launch the Password Reset program.
2.) Once the Password Reset program window gets opened, select the drive which contains the user account for which you wish to reset the password in the Reset Password window.
3.) Next, select the account for which you wish to reset password in the Select User Account drop-down menu.
4.) Then, enter the new password the prompted field along with the hint for the new password and click on the Save button. A warning message will display on your screen.
5.) In the warning message, you will be prompted that the keychain password was not reset and that you will need to change the keychain password in order to match the new password you created. Click on the OK button.
6.) Next, quit Reset Password app > Terminal > OS X Utilities. After that, click on the Restart button to confirm your action of quitting OS X Utilities. The password for administrator account will be reset.
First Time Logging In with New Password
When you sign in for the first time using your new administrator password, you will be greeted with a window prompting to you that system wasn’t able to unlock login keychain. There are three ways you can continue from here.
1.) If you remember your old login password, click on the Update Keychain Password button.
2.) The second option is to create a new keychain which will require your new password. This option will create an empty keychain file which accesses using your new password. This option will reset keychains and you will need to provide passwords for different services availed. To use this option, simply click on the Create New Keychain button.
3.) The third option has nothing to do with keychain system. You can complete the login process by clicking on the Continue Log In button. This will direct you to the desktop. This option works as a temporary solution. You will need to pass the keychain dialog box next time you try to log in to the account.
NOTE: Login Keychain is locked from access as a security measure to prevent someone else from having access to all your accounts and information by simply resetting your administrator account.
So, this is how you can reset the administrator password on your Mac system and get back access to all your data and information.