My ex-wife managed to get on to my Mac (OS X 10.9.4) and change my password for log on. Luckily, I am still able to access my Mac as she didn't set it to screen lock. What do I need to do in order to get back to my old password so that I can set a new one. Can I simply restore from my Time Machine to get it back to my old password? Or do I need more advanced help?
Asked
Active
Viewed 7,381 times
1
-
no duplicate... just trying to figure out if i can reset using my time machine. Will time machine take it back to the password I was using? I last backed up four days ago and it was just changed tonight. – James Sep 07 '14 at 06:39
-
Recovering from TimeMachine may be an option, but the answer linked to by @njboot above offers a much easier way to solve your problem. – nohillside Sep 07 '14 at 06:56
1 Answers
2
Resetting User Account Password (10.7 +)
- Boot into your Recovery Partition holding down Command + R at the startup chime
- Select "Terminal" from your "Utilities" Menu Bar
- Type the following command in:
resetpassword - From the window that appears, select your boot volume and the appropriate user account
- Type in the new password and confirm the new password
- Click "Save", close this pane and quit Utilities
- Select boot volume again when presented with "Choose Startup Disk" and reboot your machine
njboot
- 8,541
-
will this delete anything currently on my mac? or do i need to do a time machine boot up? – James Sep 07 '14 at 06:42
-
This won't delete anything on your current Mac. It will just reset the password. Time Machine isn't necessary. – njboot Sep 07 '14 at 06:45
-
so shut down the computer... hold down command + R at the startup chime and follow the rest of your steps? What is the boot volume? There's only one account on there which was mine. – James Sep 07 '14 at 06:48
-
@James Yes. Print out instructions if necessary. Here's one that includes pictures. It's quite simple. Boot volume is your main volume. IE, "Macintosh HD" by default. – njboot Sep 07 '14 at 06:52
-
awesome!!! I will try it out now! Thanks for the assist! You're a lifesaver! – James Sep 07 '14 at 06:57
-