How to reset the password on a Mac

Written By: Elijah

Comments: 16

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

Time Required

2 - 10 minutes

Introduction

If you forgot the password to your Mac or you need to create a new administrator account but you do not know the password of any administrator user account on the computer, or you just want to see the Setup Assistant again, this guide will show you how to trick your Mac into thinking it has never been set up before without wiping any of your data.

If you have a Firmware Password enabled on your Mac, you must disable it otherwise this guide will not work!

This will NOT work if FileVault is enabled!

The instructions in this guide WILL NOT work on a Mac with an Apple T2 Chip or an Apple Silicon processor (such as the M1).

Step 1

Shut down your Mac
Press and hold the Command + S keys while pressing the power button to turn on your Mac.
It is best to start holding the keys before the screen turns on or you hear the startup chime. If you see the Apple logo, then you need to shut down and to do this step over. Except on a Mac with a T2 chip, the Apple logo will always appear the second the computer turns on.
You should see a black screen with white text.

Step 2

When the text stops, you should see a line that says "localhost:/ root#" at the bottom. If you don't see "localhost:/ root#", press enter.
Type in "mount -uw"
Some more text will appear on the screen. when you see the "localhost:/ root#"at the bottom, continue to the next step

Es funktioniert mit

mount -uw /

Theo Wintwer -

Step 3

Type in, "rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone" and press enter/ return
This is case sensitive!
There must be a space in between the rm and / otherwise you will get a "no such file or directory" error
This method WILL NOT work if FileVault is enabled on the startup disk.

Step 4

If you get a message that says "override r------- root/wheel for /var/db/.AppleSetupDone?", type in "y" and press enter/return.
You may get an error that says, "rm: /var/db/.AppleSetupDone: read-only file system.
If you don't see a message that says "override r------- root/wheel for /var/db/.AppleSetupDone?", then continue to the next step.

How to fix this error? You may get an error that says, "rm: /var/db/.AppleSetupDone: read-only file system.

UNITED MUSLIMEEN - 03/09/20

Sometimes if you start over, it will work but you may be getting the error because you are using a Mac with a T2 chip and it won’t work on Macs with a T2 chip because the T2 chip does not allow write access to the drive.

Elijah - 04/10/20

same error, and I found a fix

If you receive it, it means that this command hasn’t worked: “mount -uw / “

In my case, I only typed “mount -uw” and hit enter, but you MUST type it all:

mount -uw /

including the space and /

this fixed it for me and I was able to remove the setup file and proceed as described here

mariya -

I type mount -uw / but still got the error "rm: /var/db/.AppleSetupDone: read-only

how can I fix it? I need to reset my imac

70sunkisses -

Okay, I figured out a method:

Type mount -uw / with the space and the slash. Hit return.

Type mount -uw again with no space nor slash. Hit return.

Then type rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone and hit return.

The only time text will appear is when you type the second line. After the AppleSetupDone line, you shouldn't even have to type Y and then hit return. In fact, nothing should happen.

If you still can't, type fsck -fy and hit return. This will check your startup volume.

lyonmissions -

you’re clutch! thank you! it worked lol

Willy Avila -

This one worked for me. Until I hit another roadblock stating that this computer remotely administered by Hudson Pub School. This 2nd time I did not login into my Wi-Fi during setup and it let me create a new admin acct that only I controlled. Now to delete Hudson Pub Schools.

Paul Paul -

Step 5

Type in "reboot" and press enter/return.

Step 6

Your Mac will now reboot to the Setup Assistant. you can now set up your Mac.

After step 6, it reboot and going to normal window to enter password rather new admin setup page.. What could be the problem here?

Ranjith Kumar - 09/04/20

Did you see a read only file system error when typing in “rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone” in single user mode?

Elijah - 04/10/20

Same problem and i did not get a read only

Brooke Paeper-Archuleta -

Step 7

You have now created a new user account with full administrator access. And all the user accounts created prior to this remain untouched

Conclusion

You have now successfully created a new administrator account on your Mac.

Author

Elijah

Member since: 16/12/18

1040 Reputation

5 comments

What are the steps to overcome the error?

“You may get an error that says, rm: /var/db/.AppleSetupDone: read-only file system.”

dhinostroza - 12/02/20

This error can be caused because FileVault is enabled or that there was some random error. Try running the same commands in Terminal in the macOS recovery partition and see if that works. This error may also occur on a Mac with a T2 chip. If FileVault is enabled, you will have to erase the hard drive/SSD and reinstall macOS if you forgot your password.

Elijah - 29/02/20

i get no such file or directory why ???

Mohamed Barnoussi -

El nuevo usuario administrador que se crea ¿de dónde toma el nombre “Admin” que es el nombre del nuevo usuario administrador?

Horacio Gáñez

Harok Hga -