How to Change the Admin Password on a Mac: A Comprehensive Guide

Forgetting the admin password can happen to anyone, no matter how experienced you are with your Mac. However, it’s not the end of the road. Luckily, there are several ways to reset or recover your admin password on a Mac. This article covers four methods that work on different MacOS versions.

If you’ve forgotten your password and don’t intend to reset or recover your admin password, you can find advice in our article on how to recover a forgotten Mac user password. We also offer advice if you can’t remember your Apple ID password.

Method 1: Recover Your FileVault Administrator Password

If FileVault is enabled on your Mac, you can recover your admin password by following these steps:

1. Retrieve the recovery key that you’ve saved when you enabled FileVault disk encryption. If you can’t find your recovery key, contact Apple Support.
2. Restart your Mac.
3. On the login screen, select the account that you want to unlock and reset the login password.
4. Click the Help (?) button in the password area, then click “Reset it using your recovery key” and enter your recovery key.

Method 2: Reset Admin Password via Recovery Mode

If Method 1 doesn’t work for you or if FileVault isn’t enabled, you can reset your admin password by following these steps:

1. Boot your Mac into recovery mode by pressing and holding Command-R during the boot process.
2. When you see the startup screen, release the keys.
3. The OS X Utilities screen appears. Click Utilities on the Apple menu and select Terminal.
4. In Terminal, type ‘reset Password’ and press Enter.
5. Select the drive and user, then enter and confirm a new password and password hint for your admin user.
6. Save the changes and restart your Mac from the Apple menu.

Method 3: Reset Admin Password via Single User Mode

If both Methods 1 and 2 don’t work, you can reset your admin password via single user mode. Note that this method is more complex and requires some command-line tricks.

1. Shut down your Mac and start it again while holding Command-S during startup to enter single user mode.
2. Type “mount -uw /” without quotes, then press Enter.
3. Type ‘launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.opendirectoryd.plist’ and press Enter.
4. Type “passwd username” without quotes, substitute “username” with the name of your administrator account.
5. Enter and confirm your new password when prompted.
6. Type “reboot” without quotes and press Enter to restart your Mac.

Remember to choose a strong password that’s hard to guess but easy for you to remember. If you want to change your username, we’ve also got you covered with this guide.

FAQs

1. Is it possible to change an admin password without the original password?

Yes, it is possible to change the admin password without knowing the original password. You can use the methods outlined in this article to reset or recover your admin password.

2. How can I prevent forgetting my admin password in the future?

Use a password manager to store your passwords securely and make sure to choose a password that’s easy for you to remember but hard for others to guess. Additionally, you can set up a hint or a secondary email for your Apple ID as a backup in case you ever forget your password.