{"id":13484,"date":"2017-05-09T13:21:49","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T07:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/?p=13484"},"modified":"2017-05-09T13:21:49","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T07:51:49","slug":"reset-mac-password-macos-sierra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/reset-mac-password-macos-sierra\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Reset Mac Password in macOS Sierra"},"content":{"rendered":"

Password protecting a user account is, when all is said in done, a great practice. It shields your record from unauthorized access, and protects your own information. Not with standing, on the off chance that you ever wind up overlooking your secret key, that layer of security can rapidly turn into a bane. You may feel that an entire reformat of your Mac is the best way to move beyond such a circumstance, at the same time, luckily, there’s a generally simple approach to reset your Mac\u2019s password. The best part? This strategy can be utilized to change passwords for administrator accounts, also. In this way, on the off chance that you’ve overlooked the password to your account, here’s the means by which to reset a Mac password:<\/p>\n[ad type=”banner”]\n

Note<\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019m demonstrating this on a MacBook Air running macOS Sierra 10.12.4 developer beta. This article\u00a0is primarily aimed at Macs running any version of macOS Sierra.<\/p>\n

How to Reset Mac Password: Reset Password Utility<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

If you\u2019ve forgotten the password to your account in macOS Sierra, you can reset it easily by following the steps\u00a0given below:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Restart your Mac. When you hear the\u00a0\u201cboot up chime\u201d, press and hold \u201ccommand + R\u201d until you see the Apple logo. This will start your Mac in recovery mode.<\/li>\n
  • Now, click on \u201cUtilities<\/strong>\u201c, and select \u201cTerminal<\/strong>\u201c.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \"How<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Type the command\u201cresetpassword\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0into the Terminal, and hit Enter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      \"How<\/p>\n

        \n
      • The Reset Password Utility will open up,displaying all the accounts<\/strong>\u00a0that are present on the Mac.\u00a0Select the account you want to change the password for, and click on \u201cNext<\/strong> \u201c.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        \"How<\/p>\n

          \n
        • Your Mac will ask you for the new password, along with a password hint (recommended). Fill this up, and click \u201cNext<\/strong> \u201c.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          \"How<\/p>\n[ad type=”banner”]\n

            \n
          • You can now restart your Mac, and sign in to your user account with the new password.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            How to Reset Mac Password: Older Versions of macOS<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

            If you\u2019re not using macOS Sierra, and you need to reset your Mac\u2019s password, you\u2019ll be happy to know that you can do that easily, as well. Simply follow the steps below:<\/p>\n

            1. Remove the applesetupdone File<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
              \n
            • Restart your Mac, and when you hear the\u00a0boot up chime, press and hold \u201ccommand + S<\/strong>\u201c. This will take you into Single User Mode, and you\u2019ll get access to a Terminal.<\/li>\n
            • Here, type the\u00a0command \u201cfsck -fy<\/strong>\u201c, and hit Enter. This will basically check the filesystem on your Mac, and make sure that everything is okay, before we proceed.<\/li>\n
            • Next, type the command \u201cmount -uw \/<\/strong>\u201c. This command basically mounts your entire hard drive, and makes it writeable. This will ensure that any changes you make will persist through the reboot<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
            • Now, type the command \u201crm \/var\/db\/.applesetupdone<\/strong>\u201c, and hit Enter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Note<\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0<\/strong>This command will remove the file called \u201capplesetupdone\u201d from your Mac,\u00a0basically fooling your Mac into thinking that it hasn\u2019t set up any users, yet.<\/p>\n

              2. Create a New User Account<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

              You can now restart your Mac. It will take you through all the steps that one would go through when setting up a\u00a0brand-new Mac.<\/p>\n

                \n
              • Simplycreate a new user account<\/strong>,\u00a0and ensure that the account name is different from the account you want to recover the password for.<\/li>\n
              • Log in<\/strong>with this user account (which will be an admin account).<\/li>\n
              • Then, you can simply go to\u00a0System Preferences -> Users & Groups<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                \"How<\/p>\n

                  \n
                • Here, just\u00a0select the account<\/strong>\u00a0you want to reset the password for, and click on \u201cReset Password<\/strong>\u201c.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                  \"How<\/p>\n[ad type=”banner”]\n

                    \n
                  • Enter the\u00a0new password<\/strong>, and you\u2019re done. You can now log in to your original account with the new password you just set up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                     <\/p>\n

                    \"How<\/p>\n

                    Bonus: Protecting Your Account<\/strong><\/p>\n

                    The ease of use that this method provides, is highly appreciated. However, the fact remains that\u00a0this method can be used by\u00a0anyone (who has physical access to your Mac) to reset your password. That\u2019s a serious security issue. So, if you\u2019re worried about\u00a0your Mac password being reset by someone without your knowledge, there are a couple of things you can do, to keep your data protected.<\/p>\n

                    1. FileVault<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

                    FileVault is the\u00a0built-in encryption utility<\/strong>\u00a0that Apple ships with Macs. It\u2019s a very powerful tool, and can quickly\u00a0encrypt all the data on your Mac, and seal it with a password<\/strong>\u00a0(and a recovery key).<\/p>\n

                    Anytime you log in to your account, you will have to unlock your encrypted hard disk, by providing the FileVault password.<\/p>\n

                    You may be wondering how this will help. Well, think of it this way, even if someone resets your Mac\u2019s password, they will still need to unlock your hard drive, before they can do anything\u00a0even remotely nefarious on your Mac. Then, you can simply use the Recovery Mode to unlock your hard drive, and reset your password again. Simple as that.<\/p>\n

                    2. Firmware Passwords<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

                    If disk encryption just doesn\u2019t cut it for you, and you need a really high level of security, you can actually\u00a0lock your Mac at the firmware level<\/strong>. To do this, you will have to go into Recovery Mode, and choose \u201cFirmware Password Utility<\/strong>\u201d from the Utilities menu. Firmware passwords are not required for\u00a0logging into your Mac in the traditional way. However, if someone attempts to boot into\u00a0Recovery Mode<\/strong>, or\u00a0Single User Mode<\/strong>, or tries to use your Mac in\u00a0Target Disk Mode<\/strong>\u00a0for transferring data, your Mac will prompt them for the Firmware password.<\/p>\n

                    Resetting a Firmware password is not easily done, and is exactly why it should only be used if absolutely necessary. If you forget your\u00a0firmware password, you will have to contact Apple, and they can try and sort it out for you. However, this strong level of security is why Firmware passwords are the best way to go, if you\u2019re in a high-risk environment, and want to keep your data as safe as you can.<\/p>\n

                    Use These Methods to Reset Mac Passwords Easily<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

                    Booting a Mac into\u00a0Recovery Mode, and using the\u00a0Reset Password Utility is the best way to reset a forgotten password.\u00a0It\u2019s easy to perform, and is\u00a0quick enough that you can get back to work in no time. Do bear in mind, that this method can be used by people to change your Mac password without your knowledge, which is something I\u2019m sure you wouldn\u2019t want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                    How to Reset Mac Password in macOS Sierra – PC – Password protecting a user account is, when all is said in done, a great practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30044,5739],"tags":[40385,40369,40366,40365,40371,40380,40377,40378,40368,40379,40373,40387,40384,40370,40383,40382,40375,40374,40376,40367,40364,40386,40372,35330,40381,35323],"class_list":["post-13484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ios","category-pc","tag-admin-password","tag-apple-forgot-password","tag-apple-password-forgot","tag-apple-reset-password","tag-forgot-apple-password","tag-forgot-keychain-password","tag-forgot-mac-password","tag-forgot-macbook-password","tag-forgot-password-apple","tag-how-to-change-computer-password","tag-how-to-change-mac-password","tag-how-to-change-system-password","tag-how-to-reset-administrator-password","tag-how-to-reset-apple-password","tag-how-to-reset-mac","tag-how-to-reset-mac-password","tag-how-to-reset-macbook","tag-how-to-reset-macbook-air","tag-how-to-reset-macbook-pro","tag-i-forgot-my-apple-password","tag-keychain-password","tag-password-admin","tag-reset-apple-password","tag-reset-mac","tag-reset-mac-password","tag-reset-macbook"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wikitechy.com\/technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}