Having trouble accessing your MacBook? If you can’t remember your password, or if your password doesn’t seem to work, this guide is for you. Today, I’ll be talking about how to regain access to a locked Macbook.
The first step is making sure you haven’t entered your password incorrectly. Sometimes, people misspell their passwords without realizing it. A common error is entering the wrong title case. A good tip to troubleshoot a locked Macbook is to check if caps lock is on. If it is, you will likely be entering your password wrong.
Another common error we see is people entering their Apple ID passwords instead of their Mac user passwords. These are two separate passwords. One is for logging into your Apple account (such as your iCloud account), and the other is a password that you use on the lock screen of your Mac. If you have several Macs, for example, your Mac user passwords can vary, even though your Apple ID password will always be the same if you use the same account across multiple Macs.
But what if you tried everything, and you can’t remember your Mac password? We’ll discuss ways to unlock your Mac in this article, so continue reading.
Reasons for a Locked Mac Account
Entering an incorrect password too many times can cause a temporary security lockout on some Macs. If you haven’t forgotten your Apple ID and password, though, you may be able to reset it, even after entering your Mac user password three times incorrectly. More on that in the next section.
When your Mac enters sleep mode for too long, it might automatically lock the screen. If you are using someone else’s Mac, it’s easy to get locked out that way.
Unlocking With Apple ID
If you’ve associated your user account with an Apple ID, you can use an Apple ID password reset to reset the login password on some versions of macOS. To do so, restart your Mac and make sure you are connected to Wi-Fi. Enter your Mac password three times until you see reset options, and select “reset it using your Apple ID.”
Then enter the information associated with that ID and follow the steps to verify it by entering the password associated with that ID. Some Macs may restart before proceeding with the iCloud reset process.
Other Ways to Unlock Your Mac
If you don’t have an Apple ID or cannot remember it, then there are other ways to unlock your Mac. One is the iCloud unlock. You can use your iPhone to unlock your Mac or use your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac.
You can sign in to iCloud on another device, find your Mac, select “unlock” from the device menu, and then follow the verification steps provided. You can also use another device, such as an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Apple Watch by using your device passcode.
Important Reminders
You can always contact Apple Support if you are having difficulty getting into your Mac and none of the options listed above seem to work.
Repeated attempts to enter a wrong Mac password can result in a temporary lockout.
Remember, too, that for Apple IDs as well, repeated attempts will result in a 24-hour lockout. Extended lockouts are designed to protect your account from brute force attacks, and although inconvenient, they help ensure your safety in the long run.
Unlocking a User Account on a Mac
If you forgot your Mac password, you can unlock the user account by using your Apple ID. Enter your password three times until you see an option to reset your Mac user password with your Apple ID. For Apple ID help, you can contact Apple Support.
Unlocking a Locked Mac
A locked Mac can be unlocked. There are a few different ways to unlock it. If you have enabled Find My Mac and have set up an iCloud account, you can use iCloud.com/find to unlock your Mac with the Find My Mac unlock feature. You can also use your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Apple Watch to unlock your Mac with your device passcode to unlock it. Finally, if you’ve forgotten the passcode for your Mac and have no other way to access it, you may need to contact Apple Support for additional help.
Removing the Administrator Lock on Mac
You can’t disable administrator lock passwords. In other words, you can’t disable the Mac administrator password requirement when booting up your computer. However, in your System Preferences, under Security and Privacy, you can disable the lock screen after your Mac sleeps.
That will make it easier since you won’t need to enter your password in each time your computer goes to sleep. However, you will still have to enter it when you turn on your computer for the first time after it is turned off.
Also, when making important changes to your Mac settings, you will still need to enter a password. That is so that guest users don’t make important changes without the owner’s permission.
What if you want people to be able to use your Mac freely, without needing to ask you the password constantly? There is a simple workaround. When setting up or changing a password, you can add a hint. The hint can tell people what the password is if you want your friends to be able to use your Mac without ever needing to ask you for the password.
Factory Resetting a Locked Mac
You can factory reset a locked Mac by entering the Recovery Mode and then choosing the Disk Utility or Reinstall macOS option. To enter the Recovery Mode, you will need to power on your Mac and press and hold Command + R keys at the same time until you see the Apple logo. This will launch the macOS Utilities window. From here, you can select either Disk Utility to erase macOS from your Mac’s hard drive or Reinstall macOS to install a fresh copy of the operating system.
The exact process may depend on which Mac you have. Also, if you set a firmware password (this is different from a Mac user password), you will still need that password when booting from Recovery Mode.
In any case, it should be a last resort, since you will lose all your files and data.
Conclusion
It’s important to exercise best password security practices while still using a password that you can remember easily. If you have too many passwords to remember, you can use a password manager for your email, banking, etc. passwords, so you only need to remember the important passwords like your Mac login password.
