Forgot Your MacBook password? Here’s how to unlock your device

Does this situation sound familiar? You’re running late for work and you have a deadline. You rush into the office and open up your MacBook. But what’s this? You suddenly forget your device’s password, and you’re locked out.

Well, the first thing to do here, is take a few deep breaths. Don’t panic. Luckily, there are ways to get you back up in no time. Read on to find out.

Ways to reset your MacBook password

Apple has provided for several are a few quick and easy ways to reset your MacBook’s password, in the unlikely event that you manage to forget it.

Before we tell you just how to actually reset your password, it’s important to know just how and where to find the option to do so. For the same, make sure you’re on the login window on your MacBook. It appears after you’ve turned on, restarted, or logged out of your MacBook. Now, it is important to remember that this is not the same screen as the one you see when you wake up your MacBook from sleep or stop the screen saver. However, it does use the same password.

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The quickest way to figure out if you’re on the login window is to check if you can see the “Shut Down,” “Restart” and “Sleep” buttons. If you see a “Switch User” button instead, click to switch to the login window.

Now after you’re on the login window, if you’ve forgotten your password, try and enter the passwords you think are most likely yours, until you see one of the password-reset options listed below.

Reset your password using your Apple ID

1. Find the option to your password reset using your Apple ID, and click on it.

2. If you’re asked to create a new keychain to store the user’s passwords, click OK. This will restart your Mac.

3. If you’re asked to select an admin user profile you know the password for, click “Forgotten all passwords?”.

4. Next, you should see a “Reset Password” window with an option that says “Deactivate Mac.” Click on it, then click “Deactivate“ to confirm.

5. On the subsequent window, enter a new password of your choosing, and then click on Next. (If you see accounts, tap on the “Set Password” option next to each of them, then enter a new password for each account).

6. Now, all you have to do is restart your MacBook, and log in with your new credentials!

Reset your password using your recovery key

1. If you see the option to reset your password using your recovery key, click on it.

2. Enter your FileVault recovery key here. For those unaware, the FileVault recovery key is an alpha-numeric code you’d have received when you turned on FileVault on your MacBook, and chose the option to create a recovery key instead of allowing your iCloud account (Apple ID) to unlock your disk.

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3. Once the FileVault recovery key is accepted, on the subsequent window, simply choose a new password and click on “Reset Password,” and you’re all set.

And there you have it, two quick and easy ways to reset your MacBook. If at all you happen to forget your password anymore then, fret not!