How can I reset my admin password on my Macbook Pro?

Hi, it's been a few months since I've had my Macbook Pro, but I need help. I completely forgot my admin password because I never really use it, but I am trying to make changes to my laptop and need it. Is there any way that I can reset my admin password WITHOUT deleting any of my stuff? I have a lot of school work saved on my laptop, and I absolutely cannot lose it! Please help! Also, can you please give step by step directions? I am not the best with technology, so I need to know exactly what to do. Please help!

Snow Leopard and earlier:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1274
Lion and later:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4101

Similar Messages

  • How do you reset an admin password on a MacBook Pro running Mountain Lion?

    I forgot the admin password on my mac and I tried resetting it using the command+r technique at startup however a lock symbol appeared which requires a password to access.
    Does anyone know how to reset the password without using a startup disc?

    Forgot Your Account Password
    For Snow Leopard and earlier
         Mac OS X 10.6- If you forget your administrator password
    For Lion/Mountain Lion
        Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
         When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
         Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow
         instructions in the dialog window that will appear.
         Or see Reset a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Password and
         OS X Lion- Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.

  • How do I reset my Admin password on my MacBook Pro

    I have lost my admin password and do not know how to reset/ recover it.

    Have you read for possible solutions over in the "More Like This" thread over here?----------------------->
    you are going to select another password, make sure it's one that you will NEVER forget AND no one else can figure out.  Print it out & keep in a safe place.  A place that ONLY you know about AND never forget.

  • I bought a used Macbook that came with the OS 10.7 upgrade, How can I reset the admin password?

    How can I reset the admin password I don't have the old password. I bought it used and the disk's it came with are OS 10.5 how can i get this password reset without losing any of the upgrades or files?

    Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
    When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu. Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow instructions in the dialog window that will appear.
    Or see Reset a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Password and OS X Lion- Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.

  • I lost my admin password and the installation discs. How can I reset my admin password ?

    I lost my admin password and the installation discs. How can I reset my admin password ?

    OS X 10.7 Lion, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.9 Mavericks and 10.10 Yosemite
    Reset Password
    Start the computer,then press and hold down command and R keys to start into recovery partition.
    When you see the Apple logo, release the keys.
    Wait until  OS X Utilities window shows up.
    Move the mouse to the menubar at the top and click "Utilities", then select "Terminal"
    from the drop down.
    Terminal window will appear.
    Type in   resetpassword   and press enter on the keyboard.
    Leave the Terminal window open.
    Reset Password Utility window will open with Macintosh HD selected.
    Select the user account from the popup menu box under “Select user account”.
    Enter a new password.
    Reenter the new password for the user.
    Enter a hint.
    Click the "Save" button.
    Click  in the menubar and select Restart.
    Log in.
    If Keychain dialog box appears, select “Create New Keychain”.

  • How can I reset my admin. password without the MAC OXS  reinstall, bought mine used and have no such disk

    Hi, how can I change my admin password without the reinstall of MAC OXS disk or whatever that is, I bought my macbook privately and cant update my adobe flash without the password which I have never set up. but anything I type in is wrong...... as a password.

    ok have read all relivant posts and have tried the restart command+R which does absolutely nothing. My Computer opens up as usual.
    I have found another response which suggests command+S and generate an entirely new admin. and password and you are not supposed to loose a single file.
    Has anyone done this and been successful? I have just installed a new hard drive in the last 3 months and don't want to do any damage.
    Hearing a success story would be nice.  Thanks

  • Reset my admin password on my Macbook Pro

    I am new to Apple and just purchased a MACBOOK PRO.  We have two user ID's.  When I am on my user ID and need to update software< I'm required to input a admin user name and password.  The other user on the MAC is the admin and doesn't remember the password.  How do I reset the admin password?  I have no discs, which is how Apple support describes as necessary to reset.

    Forgot Your Account Password
    For Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks
        Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
         When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
         Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow
         instructions in the dialog window that will appear.
         Or see:
           Reset a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Password
           OS X Mountain Lion- Reset a login password,
           OS X Mavericks- Solve password problems,
           OS X Lion- Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.

  • How can you reset your admin password when you can't remember it?

    Can you please tell me how I can reset my admin password when I can't remember it?

    Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
    When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu. Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow instructions in the dialog window that will appear.

  • How can I turn off my password on my MacBook Pro?

    I (somehow) created a password whenever my MacBook Pro is either turned on or awaken from sleep mode because I was having issues with my roommates. They have since moved out, and I cannot remember how I created the password, or how to turn it off completely. I went into System Preferences>Security & Privacy, but don't see any option of turning it off completely, just changing the time it goes to sleep and asks for a password to turn back on.
    Thank you.

    System Preferences/Accounts/Password/Login Options 

  • How can i reset an admin password?

    i got my mac from a friend, the mac has an admin password in the only account, and he cant remember it, i dont have the CD's that came with the mac also, but my friend has ones of his macbook pro, both are for the same OS X, 10.6.7, any help? can i use the MBP CD's? if yes, how do i reset the password using them?

    Hi, lisafromspanish fork.  
    Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities. 
    I am not sure which operating system you are using; however, here are the steps that will walk you through changing an admin account password. 
    OS X: Changing or resetting an account password
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1274
    OS X Mavericks: Reset a login password
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14325
    Cheers,
    Jason H.

  • Can anyone help.  For security reasons I reset my admin password on my Macbook Pro a few days ago and didn't write it down.  Now I've forgotten it.  I didnt receive an installation disc when I purchased my Macbook Pro online - it didn't come with one-help

    Please see question above, but also note, I have the Applecare Protection Plan but am unable to get through to anyone on a weekend and I desperately need to use my laptop this weekend.  I can't log in at all now as I've forgotten my admin password.  A few weeks ago I also changed the password on my husband's new MacBook Pro and again forgot the password.  I spoke to someone at Apple and they helped me to reset it within minutes, by restarting the computer holding Command+something else (I can't remember what it was). A black screen with writing came up and I had to type in something like "password" (not sure exactly).  Anyway, this was a very quick and efficient process but I didn't write it down unfortunately.  Does anyone out there know what to do?  Thanks in anticipation

    Forgot Your Account Password
    For Lion/Mountain Lion
        Boot to the Recovery HD:
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
         When the menubar appears select Terminal from the Utilities menu.
         Enter resetpassword at the prompt and press RETURN. Follow
         instructions in the dialog window that will appear.
         Or see Reset a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Password and
         OS X Lion- Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.

  • How do I reset the firmware password on my MacBook Pro 2009?

    Hi every body,
    I'm Manh, as you see on the forum. Well i got a macbook pro 2009 that i bought from a friend, 1 month ago, the firmware is protected by a password, and it i can not boot form my hdd, when i google it, i found the firmware password should be remove or reset, but i don't know how to reset it. Please help me, because i ain't got any other to work. Thanks!

    My friend bought it directly from Apple. I think this is a bug . Because my friend and I'd never set a firmware password before, Actually, icloud account in this mac is mine. Anw thanks for your comments. Any recommendation is highly appreciated!

  • How do I change the admin password on my MacBook pro

    I have forgotten my password and I don't want to wipe my hard drive how do I change the password?
    I have done the following:
    Rebooted selected a language, it then went right back to the installer but there was no change password as an option.
    Under disk utility it was not high lighted.

    First, make sure caps lock is not on.
    Another reason why your password might not be recognized is that the keyboard layout (input source) has been switched without your realizing it. At the login screen, you can cycle through the available layouts by pressing the key combination command-space or command-option-space. See this support article.
    You must back up all data before continuing, unless you've already done so. If you need to back up but can't log in, ask for instructions.
    If the user account is associated with an Apple ID, and you know the Apple ID password, then maybe the Apple ID can be used to reset your user account password.
    Otherwise*, boot into Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
    Utilities ▹ Terminal
    from the menu bar. In the Terminal window, type this:
    res
    Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
    resetpassword
    Press return. A Reset Password window opens.
    Select your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.
    Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
    Follow the prompts to reset the password. It's safest to choose a password that includes only the characters a-z, A-Z, and 0-9.
    Select
     ▹ Restart
    from the menu bar.
    You should now be able to log in with the new password, but your Keychain will be reset (empty.) If you've forgotten the Keychain password (which is ordinarily the same as your login password), there's no way to recover it.
    *Note: If you've activated FileVault, this procedure doesn't apply. Follow instead these instructions.

  • How do i reset an admin password without knowing the original?

    How can i reset my admin password on my macbook pro without knowing the original password?

    Insert a compatible Mac OS X DVD, restart with the Option key held down, and use its Reset Password utility. If the computer has a firmware password set, you need to know that.
    (58431)

  • I forgot my admin password for my Macbook Pro OS X version 10.9, how can i recover it and reset my password

    I forgot my admin password for my Macbook Pro OS X version 10.9, how can i recover it and reset my password? Thank you!

    OS X Lion>: How to Easily Reset the Administrator Password

Maybe you are looking for