The password of your macOS user account is also known as your login password. It's the password that you use to log in to your Mac and make certain changes, such as installing software.

1. Change Admin Password Mac Terminal
2. Mac Terminal Password Reset
3. Bypass Mac Admin Password

Change Admin Password Mac Terminal

Even if you aren't a sinister evildoer, there could be times when you need to get into a computer without the password. It's quite easy to do on a Mac, and learning how to do it can help.

Jul 27, 2015  Security issues. One strong caveat is that the terminal, by default, will save commands to /.bashhistory in plain text, so you're essentially storing a user's password in plain text, unless you temporarily disable bash history or later go into the /.bashhistory file with a text editor (like nano) and delete the offending lines manually. If you distribute this as part of a.pkg, nothing. Nov 13, 2007  Wanting to see if it was still possible to set a password on the account by using Terminal, I used the passwd command. Once I found I could put a password on the account, I wanted to take it off. But the passwd command doesn't do that, so I was stuck with a password I.

Change your password

If you know your password and can use it to log in to your account, you can change your password in Users & Groups preferences:

1. Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu, then click Users & Groups.
2. Select your user name from the list of users.
3. Click the Change Password button, then follow the onscreen instructions.

Reset your password

If you don't remember your password, or it isn't working, you might be able to reset it using one of the methods described below. But first try these simpler solutions:

• Make sure that you're typing the correct uppercase or lowercase characters. If your keyboard has Caps Lock turned on, the password field shows a Caps Lock symbol .
• If the password field shows a question mark, click it to display a password hint that might help you to remember.
• Try to log in without a password. If that works, you can then add a password by following the steps to change your password.
• Try to log in with the Apple ID password that you use for iCloud. If you just changed that password and the new password isn't working, try the old password first. If that works, you should be able to use the new password from then on.

Reset using your Apple ID

In some macOS versions, you can use your Apple ID to reset your login password. At the login screen, keep entering a password until you see a message saying that you can reset your password using Apple ID. If you don't see the message after three attempts, your account isn't set up to allow resetting with Apple ID.

1. Click next to the Apple ID message, then follow the onscreen instructions to enter your Apple ID and create a new password. You'll be asked to restart when done.
2. Log in with your new password.
3. Determine whether to create a new login keychain.

Reset using another admin account

If you know the name and password of an admin account on your Mac, you can use that account to reset the password.

1. Log in with the name and password of the other admin account.
2. Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu, then click Users & Groups.
3. Click , then enter the admin name and password again.
4. Select your user name from the list of users.
5. Click the Reset Password button, then follow the onscreen instructions to create a new password:
   
6. Choose Log Out from the Apple menu.
7. Log in to your account using your new password.
8. Determine whether to create a new login keychain.

Reset using the Reset Password assistant (FileVault must be on)

If FileVault is turned on, you might be able to reset your password using the Reset Password assistant:

1. Wait up to a minute at the login screen, until you see a message saying that you can use the power button on your Mac to shut down and start up again in Recovery OS. If you don't see this message, FileVault isn't on.
2. Press and hold the power button until your Mac turns off.
3. Press the power button again to turn on your Mac.
4. When the Reset Password window appears, follow the onscreen instructions to create a new password.
   If you need to connect to Wi-Fi, move your pointer to the top of the screen and use the Wi-Fi menu to connect. To exit without resetting your password, choose Apple menu > Restart.
   
5. When done, click Restart.
6. If you were able to reset your password with the Reset Password assistant, log in to your account using your new password.
7. Determine whether to create a new login keychain.

Reset using your Recovery Key (FileVault must be on)

If FileVault is turned on and you have a FileVault Recovery Key, you can use that key to reset your password.

1. At the login screen, keep entering a password until you see a message saying that you can reset your password using your Recovery Key. If you don't see the message after three attempts, FileVault isn't on.
   
2. Click next to the message. The password field changes to a Recovery Key field.
3. Enter your Recovery Key. Use uppercase characters, and include the hyphens.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to create a new password, then click Reset Password when done.
5. Determine whether to create a new login keychain.

If you can't log in with your new password after restarting your Mac, take these additional steps:

1. Restart again, then immediately hold down Command-R or one of the other macOS Recovery key combinations until you see the Apple logo or a spinning globe.
2. When you see the macOS Utilities window, choose Utilities > Terminal from the menu bar.
3. In the Terminal window, type resetpassword, then press Return to open the Reset Password assistant pictured above.
4. Select ”My password doesn't work when logging in,” then click Next and follow the onscreen instructions for your user account.

Create a new login keychain, if necessary

After resetting your password and logging back in to your account, you might see an alert that the system was unable to unlock your login keychain. This is expected, because the passwords for your user account and login keychain no longer match. Just click the Create New Keychain button in the alert.

If you didn't see an alert about your login keychain, or you see other messages asking for your old password, reset your keychain manually:

1. Open Keychain Access, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
2. Choose Preferences from the Keychain Access menu, then click the Reset My Default Keychain button in the preferences window. After you enter your new password, Keychain Access creates an empty login keychain with no password. Click OK to confirm.
   If you don't see a Reset My Default keychain button, close the preferences window and select the “login” keychain from the left side of the Keychain Access window. Press the Delete key, then click Delete References.
   
3. Choose Log Out from the Apple menu to return to the login screen.
4. Log in to your account using your new password. Your account password and login keychain password now match again.

If you still can't log in

If you still can't log in with your password, contact Apple Support for help.

Forgot your Mac's login password? How do I reset lost admin password without Mac OS X installer disc? If you can't sign in to another Admin account, here are several approaches you can take for resetting your forgotten MacOS Mojave password, without reinstalling.

Mac doesn't make password recovery as difficult as Windows does. Just boot your Mac into single-user mode or recovery mode, you can either create a new admin account or reset lost password of any existing account. No need to use Mac installer disc or third-party software.

Method 1: Reset Forgotten MacOS Mojave Password in Single-User Mode

Single-user mode under Mac OS X gives you all root privileges without root password. This allows forgetful users to create a new admin account when they're locked out of Mac due to forgetting password.

Mac Terminal Password Reset

1. Power on or restart your Mac. When you hear the startup chime, hold down the Command and S keys simultaneously to enter into single-user mode.

2. Your Mac will display the scrolling white text during bootup. When it stops, enter the following commands one by one. Press Enter after each command:

3. Your Mac will restart and you need to go through the entire setup process as if it was a brand new Mac. Don't worry, all of your pre-existing data is still available. Just go ahead and it will let you create a new Administrator account.
4. Once you're logged in to the new account, you can reset forgotten Mac password of your original account through System Preferences.

Method 2: Reset Forgotten MacOS Mojave Password in Recovery Mode

Mac's Recovery Mode gives users the ability to not only reinstall MacOS, but also to reset forgotten admin password. This should be the easiest approach to restore access to your Mac account.

1. Power on your Mac. Immediately hold down the Command and R keys at the same time until you see the loading bar appear under the Apple logo.
2. After booting into Recovery Mode, a MacOS Utilities screen will appear. Click the Utilities menu at the top of your screen and then select Terminal.
3. At the Terminal window, type resetpassword and hit Enter.
4. This launches the Reset Password screen, which asks you to select an admin user you know the password for. Just click on the 'Forgot all password' link.
5. The next screen will list all user accounts on your Mac. Just click the Set Password button next to the account you want to reset the password for.
6. In the pop-up window, enter the new password, confirm it, and click on Set Password.
7. Now you can restart the Mac from the Apple menu, and login with your new password.

The above methods will help you reset forgotten MacOS Mojave password when you're locked out of the Admin account, without losing any files except the login Keychain.

Bypass Mac Admin Password

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