Click the arrow icon to open the Reset Password dialog. Enter your Apple ID and its password, then click Reset Password to proceed. Enter a new administrator password, verify it, and fill in the Hint field so that you’ll get a memory trigger the next time you forget. Click Reset Password, and you’re done. If FileVault is on, follow these steps to reset your password: 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. Press and hold the power button until your Mac turns off.

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.

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.

The name of your macOS user account and the name of your home folder must both be the same. Changing these names does not change or reset the password of your user account.

Because doing this incorrectly could damage your account and prevent you from logging in, you should back up your important data before proceeding.

First rename the home folder

1. Log out of the account you're renaming, then log in to a different administrator account. (If you don't have another administrator account, you can create one in Users & Groups preferences.)
   
2. Open the Users folder on the startup disk. It contains the home folder for each user. To get there, you can choose Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar, then enter /Users.
3. Rename the user's home folder without using any spaces in the new name. You'll be prompted to enter the administrator name and password that you used to log in. If you're using file sharing to share the home folder, you won't be able to rename it until you stop sharing the folder.

How Do I Find My Administrator Name And Password For Mac Computer

Then rename the account

How Do I Find My Administrator Name And Password For Mac Download

While still logged out of the account you're renaming, follow these additional steps:

How Do I Find My Administrator Name And Password For Mac

1. Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.
2. Click , then enter the administrator name and password that you used to log in.
3. From the list of users on the left, Control-click the user you're renaming, then choose Advanced Options.
4. Change the “Account name” field to match the new name of the home folder. It should have no spaces.
   
5. The account name also appears in the “Home directory” field, after /Users/. Change that account name to match the new name of the home folder.
6. If you want to change the full name associated with your account, update the ”Full name” field as well. It can be any name, and you can use either the full name or the account name to log in to your Mac or make changes that require your name and password.
7. Click OK, then restart your Mac.
8. Log in to the renamed account, then verify that your old files and folders are visible and the account is working as expected.