How to Change or Reset the Password of a MacOS User Account

Perhaps it has happened to them that one day they change the computer password for security, and when trying to enter, they find themselves typing the old password over and over again because they have definitely forgotten the new one! Well, fortunately recovering the Mac password is not a difficult task, so here we share a step by step, so you can do it quickly.

Recover your Mac password

First of all, it is important to note that the password of the macOS user account is the same login password, so it not only works to access the computer but also to make certain changes within it. If even with this information you do not remember your password, and you already made sure to enter the characters in lowercase and uppercase correctly, it is important that you consider the following:

Check if a question mark appears in the password field. If you see it, click on it to show you a password hint that can be useful so you can remember it.
Try to sign in with the Apple ID password you use for iCloud.
Apple recommends that, if you just changed your password, remember the new one, and it doesn’t work, try using the old password. If it works, the apple company ensures that you should be able to use the new password from then on.

Now, if these steps did not help you, you can reset it using the wizard to reset passwords. At this point it is vital that FileVault is activated, otherwise, it will not work.

What you have to do is wait a minute on the login screen, until you find a message that you can use the power button on your Mac to turn off the computer and restart it from the recovery section.
If you waited for a while and the message didn’t come out, then you don’t have FileVault activated and you won’t be able to reset your password like this.
Follow the instructions: Press the power button until the Mac turns off.
Then press the button again to turn it on.
As soon as you see the ‘Reset password’ window follow the steps to create a new password.
If you have already been able to reset your password, you can log in with the new one.

There is another way to recover your password, in which you must also have FileVault activated: using the recovery key.

When you are at the login screen, if you enter the wrong password three times, a message will appear in which the computer will indicate that you can reset the password with your recovery key.
At that time, you must click on the arrow next to the message, and in the password field enter the recovery key.
There you must follow the instructions to create a new password and when you are finished, you will have to click on Reset password.

Boot the computer from the recovery partition

If the above tips did not work for you, it is best to start the computer from the recovery partition and reset the password from there. To do this, you have to follow these steps:

Restart the Mac and hold down the Cmd shortcut + R key to access the recovery partition.
There, choose Terminal from the Utilities menu and open it. At this point you will have to type resetpassword.
A box will appear next, displaying a list of the bootable hard drives connected to the Mac.
It is important to choose the disk on which the account for which we need to change the password is hosted.
Locate the user selection menu and choose the one you need.
Add your new password. You will have to verify it and add a useful indication so that you do not forget it again.
Finally, click save and you will have a new password.