Since the keychain is protected by the now-forgotten administrator password, there’s no way to get back into it. Reset Login Keychain Password - No matter which of these methods you use to reset a forgotten administrator password, it won’t update the password protecting the account’s login keychain, which stores all of the user’s passwords. Which you should use depends on the specific version of Mac OS X, and how the Mac is set up.īut first, there’s an important caveat about any of these methods, related to the login keychain. Let’s explore all the options to reset a password.

Starting with 10.7 Lion, you could still call on all those options, but Apple added a method so easy that even an inexperienced user can do it - the Apple ID-based password reset. Because she also couldn’t find the original system CDs that shipped with her iMac, I had to resort to some advanced techniques few home users would ever be able to figure out.

Several years ago, I was helping a client upgrade her Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, but she couldn’t remember her administrator password. This article is over four years old and some details have changed.įor up-to-date help, read “ Three Ways to Reset a Lost Admin Password in High Sierra” (5 July 2018). #1644: Explaining Mastodon and the Fediverse, HomePod Software 16.3 and tvOS 16.3, GoTo breach.#1645: AirPlay iPhone to Mac for remote video, Siri learns to restart iPhones, Apple's Q1 2023 financials.1646: Security-focused OS updates, Photos Workbench review, Mastodon client wishlist, Apple-related conferences.1647: Focus-caused notification issues, site-specific browser examples, virtualizing Windows on M-series Macs.#1648: iPhone passcode thefts, Center Cam improves webcam eye contact, APFS Uncertainty Principle.

Forgot login keychain password