Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD
Written on June 22, 2008 by Jenny Kortina and 164 people have commented
I wrote about this a while back on my blog, hackaddict, but it was such a popular post I thought I’d give it a revisit. A lot of people buy used Macs, and they often run into the problem of not knowing the admin password, so here is a way to get around not knowing the admin password on Macs.
To reset your OS X password without an OS X CD you need to enter terminal and create a new admin account:
- Reboot
- Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
- When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
- mount -uw /
- rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
- shutdown -h now
- After rebooting you should have a brand new admin account. When you login as the new admin you can simply delete the old one and you’re good to go again!
John on June 22nd, 2008 at 8:48 pm
So – it’s just that simple to hack a Mac OS machine if you have physical access? Are passwords basically useless then?
EW on June 22nd, 2008 at 8:51 pm
You fail to mention that in the process you delete ALL of your information.
That is not resetting the OS X password, that is called creating a new account and taking over someone else’s computer with a fresh start. The title of this post should be changed.
Tex on June 23rd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Yeah, now I’m f-ed thanks to this post.
steve on November 12th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Thanks for making the comment-You saved me a lot of hassle.
It would have helped if it was in the post!
Todd Baur on June 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Yeah this is a bad idea. Sorry, but removing that file will just trick OS X into thinking its the first time its been powered up, and take you through registration.
So if you absolutely need to reset your password without an Apple CD available, you’re better doing this.
flysi on June 22nd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Does this work if a firmware password is enabled? Cuz otherwise it’s a little disappointing to think it would be that easy to snag a computer and wipe all of its data, even if the owner, thinking he’s being all security-conscious, has bothered to enable a firmware password…
The Oz on June 23rd, 2008 at 1:17 am
actualy no it does not delete the user account to do that you would have to do this
rm -R /Users/Username
The command simply deletes the prefs for the apple setup assistant and it could be another way to regain access should you not have your Install DVD. After running the command and rebooting youll be brought to the Apple Setup Assistant where it will allow you to create another admin user which in turn allows you to enable the root user and then regain access to your files.
Resetting a firmware password is as easy as changing the amount of ram in the machine and them zapping pram, that takes care of any firmware passwords.
Honza on June 23rd, 2008 at 6:52 am
>rm -R /Users/Username
That removes the users home directory. It doesn’t actually remove the account from the user list.
Rick on June 23rd, 2008 at 9:56 am
If you’re already going into single user mode, do it the right way
SHRIKEE on June 23rd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
mount -uw /
passwd *username*
reboot now
Obviously replace *username* with the desired login name. If you don’t know it, go in to /Users and see which folders are available…
cd /Users
ls -a
:)
/I3az/ on June 26th, 2008 at 5:17 am
@John
All Personal Computers can be “hacked” this way. Even BIOS password can be got around by just pulling out the batteries!
Thats why on the first Mission Impossible film u have the computer locked up in a secure room ;-)
The Tech Juice on June 30th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Awesome!
I had no idea. I recently just reformatted a Mac. Had I known this I could have saved valuable time and effort.
Thanks!
devious on July 8th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Hi i have a dual os mac with windows and mac how do i get to command line on the mac as when my pc reboots it loads up windows asap or if i keep hold of alt it gives me option to choose but then when i click on mac and hold apple and s it doesnt take me to command prompt
flysi on July 8th, 2008 at 9:14 am
@ devious: When booted into OS X, change your startup disk to the Mac HD in System Prefs > Startup Disk. When you reboot, it will boot into OS X by default (instead of Windows), and then you can boot into Single User mode.
Oh, and using punctuation is not a bad habit to get into.
Nick on July 10th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
This worked perfectly, thanks so much :D
Jason Rogers on July 11th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Awesome, will definitly write this down. Will come in handy. Great post!!
3G iPhone on July 18th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Excellent, I am printing this of mow. Will come in handy!
cs on August 12th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Hi,
I tried this on my personal MacBook, which runs the latest version of Leopard and it worked exactly as advertised.
I REALLY want to do this with my MacBook Pro from work, which runs Tiger 10.4.10. Can anyone confirm that this also works with Tiger?? I’m a little concerned about trying it on my work machine. I can’t make a true backup without Admin rights…
If anyone knows if this works in Tiger, please let me know.
Thank you!
antoine villalobos on August 16th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
i tried everything thanx so much ur the best
im am so happy
Laurens Bainton on August 25th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
EW says:
You fail to mention that in the process you delete ALL of your information.
That is not resetting the OS X password, that is called creating a new account and taking over someone else’s computer with a fresh start. The title of this post should be changed.
MY REPLY: by the way i did that to my mac and i got all the data back. The hard drive didn’t
delete it
NJ on August 27th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
…So i did what was said, before knowing there was notes beneath, and the mac sounds the mac chime during start-up. However, upon entering the OS screen, where its loading…it has a small folder icon, and flashing to Mac face Icon….Wont do anything, acts as if everything is wiped…which means I would need a CD. I dont have one…Any words…..Thanx
ModelBoi . . . on August 28th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Ok… Here is the Story… I have a Macbook SO X tiger… It was stolen 8 day’s ago… with all my stuff… including my battery, charger, CD and even my I-pod… I just got it back today… but the police told me the CD and ipod was no where to be found,,,
Here’s my issue… They never found the guy… But The Theif stole my password and changed everything !!! He put his own password! …. Plus now I don’t even Have a CD to reset it!!!!! Can someone please help me hack my own computer?!…. Does this work for my laptop?… All my modeling stuff and info has been lost!… I use this for work!… Please… Can someone be of any assistance… (These past few days have been crazy…. sorry for the begging….)
ModelBoi….
I’ll check this from time to time…. Thanks…
ModelBoi . . . on September 4th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I will still be checking it from time to time… Any help would be appreciated . . .
-Modelboi
:]
none on September 13th, 2008 at 10:25 am
LOL thats not hacking! Im not even sure if its worthy of being called cracking. Who has a password on their machine anyway. I only keep one on my broweser to keep my friends from screwing around with my business stuff.
handsom1 on September 14th, 2008 at 9:26 am
ty m8!!!!
helped a lot
Dyllen DjO on September 18th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Do as he says but upon the start up you will here a chime THE APPLE CHIME :)! Once that is done, you have a 3 second time period to hit Apple Command – s. This works on any COMPUTER using Mac OS X 10.4.0 – 11. You must hold both firmly not to tough to brake your keys just enough to let it know whose boss. A screen “WILL!!!!” Pop up and you must hold both of them down at the same time until that appears. Once it does you will wait about a minute then do as it says and Voila! It works and FOR ALL THE NAY SAYERS NO it doesn’t wipe your information say do not transfer anything, and nothing is wiped. Logon as the admin and put in your password and change the old admins privileges to standard and then change yours to admin settings then reset the password on the old one to something you will remember. Then log out and go onto the old one and ALL OF YOUR THINGS ARE THERE AND NOTHING IS DELETED I HAVE DONE THIS 20000 TIMES TRUST ME my company uses macs and so many people forget the password and it takes to much time to do this with the disk that its easier this way and nothing will be deleted if you just put in the information needed nothing more don’t transfer anything.
Example -
The old account let say was name. JoeShomo!
Joeshomo forgot his password and doesn’t no how to get it back
Reads this then says okay. Shuts down his computer, turns it on hears the chime 3 notes before the end hits Apple Command – S together comes to the text screen.
Types in what it says and then reboots.
Comes to the First time start up screen. Follows the instructions and doesn’t transfer anything “TRUST ME DONT TRANSFER!!!”
Then names his new account FIXER!!!
He Logs on to FIXER!!! and goes to Account Preference.
Clicks make this computer an administrator! ” No need to put in any password here ”
Clicks on the Lock if its locked which it will be if someone is secure with there computer.
Goes to the JoeShomo account and clicks don’t allow administrator privileges.
Then below the names and Short name, clicks reset password!!
Change it to what ever you want that you will remember and finish up.
Close the Account settings.
Log out and go to the JoeShomo account don’t be worried your stuff is there!!
And if your smart you will leave FIXER!!! account or whatever you name it!
But if not then change it back and that does it.
DON”T LISTEN TO PEOPLE THAT TELL YOU THAT IT WILL SCREW ANYTHING UP IT WONT ITS JUST A glitch that allows the computer to think its the first time starting up but doesn’t wipe the hard drive. Because it already has a OS. Just a refresher if you will.
If that doesn’t help and you need more then that contact me at
dyllenowens@ymail.com I will help you further!!!
Any other problems contact ME WILLING TO HELP
Ryansway on September 23rd, 2008 at 3:28 am
I’ve just tried this method several dozen times on an old Apple ibook 500 running 10.4.8 and it doesn’t work.
The install CD method doesn’t work either as they are the original 10.2, nor does the restore CD method.
So I tried this method using “Apple S” holding it down before, during, and after the chime, but no luck. Tried various intensities on the keys, no luck either.
Any ideas?
HyperShadow5592 on September 26th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
This Actually Worked!!! Thanx So Much!!! F.Y.I. I used this on a Mac OS X Panther Desktop.
Dave Johnson on September 28th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
This reset procedure worked absolutely great! Thanks! It was a Godsend! Dave
Mark on October 1st, 2008 at 2:29 pm
This method seems to work fine. To all those who tell you to use passwd – it doesn’t work in 10.3.x and above…
Ryansway on October 1st, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I was able to get it to work, but only after pulling out the RAM and restarting the machine. It was the only way to get past the lock which prevented any of the hot key combo’s during start up. Once the RAM was out I had no problems using “Apple S” – that method should probably be included in this procedure for those encountering the same problem I did. Cheers!
Patrick Lewis on October 10th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Would this method also set the new admin as the owner. I mean to have a used computer transferred to a new owner (name, address, etc.).
Lena on October 11th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I tried this on my iBook G4 and it didn’t work. could anyone help me?
Patrick Lewis on October 13th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Thanks. This works BEAUTIFULLY. I am selling some old macs and used this to “Virginize” them. I did it twice on each machine. First to create a user named DeleteThis User. I used this new user to delete the original (my) user. And then did the reset again.
Thanks a ton.
bobbler on October 16th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Pls i have tried all i could but i still dont get any of this. I need someone to help me out you can get me on my mail. authenticnelly@yahoo.com
Its a version 10.4.10. Kindly help me with procedures on how to reset the password.
Thanks
Patrick Lewis on October 16th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Be sure to type it exactly (including spaces and caps). Do each line one at a time, hitting Enter after each. I did this on 10.3 and 10.5.
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now
Mikey. on October 17th, 2008 at 3:22 am
I can’t believe anyone would actually go to a HACKING APPLE BLOG and then take the commands that the poster put on there and actually type them into the prompt. I learned that lesson back in an old AOL chatroom. I curiously asked the user where he got that cool ass rainbow font. He simply posted the link and “I” installed the backdoor trojan horse not knowing that It was exactly what he wanted me to do. Most peolple don’t remember the web when it was dangerous. God how I miss the sound of AOL 4.0 logging on to my dial-up modem. No disrespect to the poster. I see the point in having a blog like this but I just don’t think people see the danger in taking advice from a blog. If this guy said reformat your hard disk but he told you how to do it in code from a prompt so you didn’t know what you were doing you would probably do it blindly. I’m not saying that the code is incorrect that he posted. ( I ignorantly didn’t check into that.) Sorry poster. You sound like you know what your talking about so I hope you can understand I’m not attacking your blog. For all I know It’s good commands but I trust you as much as the rainbow font guy. That’s how everyone should trust what they read on a blog. I hope this works because I’m gonna try it either way because it’s not my laptop and I don’t care if it ruins my friends MAC. Yep you guessed it. I’m a PC.
Doug Young on November 1st, 2008 at 12:41 am
Mikey Said:
“Yep you guessed it. I’m a PC.”
And always, have been, that was obvious by line 4 of your post
Even back then the Mac was all but immune from Trojans and Virus and clicking that link would have done nothing ;-)
Jason on November 3rd, 2008 at 10:16 am
this does work. i just did it on a MBP running 10.5.5.
after doing it, i kind of panicked and thought i had just deleted all of my data, but rest assured that this process does not.
it will take you through your initial setup again, but all it does is create another account. your original account will remain.
i would think that passwd [username] would have worked fine. i will retry that. it may save from having to go through the entire setup again.
Thomas Stricker on November 4th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
> is it that simple to hack into a mac…
yes, it is – but only if the mac is not specifically
protected.
This is not a security leak. It is by design and
intentional, since most personal computers are
what the thing is called i.e. a personal item.
Booting into single user mode is a thing as old as
Unix. I used the trick on Unix V7 – early 80ies.
Most systems boot automatically using a standard
boot command line invisible to the user. And most
Unix including Mac OS X allow you to get into a
manual mode and specify your own parameters e.g. -s
to go to single user mode. In single user mode you are
omnipotent root, can mount disks and change every bit
on your system disk i.e. add new users, delete users
etc…
The trick fooling the system into an automatic
initial setup script is one way. There are more
traditional ways to reset password, like
editing /etc/passwd in very old systems or
nicl /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb… 10.5. needs
an even newer trick which I don’t know/use yet.
But such one will exist by design.
—
If you want to prevent this you can get a utility
(google for “firmware password”) and set a firmware
password for the machine. You will set a variable in
NVRAM of the machine and this prevents any key
combinations from changing the boot parameters.
The user of the machine is forced into a
regular OS boot on the default drive and you
loose the chance chance to intercept and
walk into the machine through the boot door.
That way you will end with the login prompt
and be locked out if you are not a regularly
authorized user.
But again – if you have physical control over
the machine you can remove the firmware password
(by changing the memory configuration on most macs
i.e. remove or add memory).
Discouraging the manipulation of an operating
system image always boils down to a padlock on
the machine on the lowest hardware layer. The best
experts on this are probably system administrators
in schools and colleges around the world – because
they have to (had to) provide personal computers
to their students in a public place. At least that
is where I gained this expertise.
Regards
Thomas M. Stricker
Paxton on November 6th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Worked for me on the 2001 iMac and it came up as OS X 10.1 after I was able to get in
Localhost recommended I run these two lines first
/sbin/fsck -y
and
/sbin/mount -uw /
(root was read only) so I did that before doing the remove.
It left everything on the hard drive, not that I want it.
lucy on November 8th, 2008 at 6:52 am
when i turn on my macbook i press apple+s but nothing happens and i have forgotten my password completely and i have no discs to re-install it..
please help me i dont know what to do…i could take it into someone but i never have any time..if you know how to help me that would be great..also i’m not the best with computers so would be great if it was in a simple way.. thanks a bunch!!!
danish on November 15th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
can any1 tell me wat is apple +s where is tht apple key.plz shw me the procedure to strt cmmond prompt where we can write tht cmmand
danish on November 15th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
hey can any1 help me.i gt 1 second hand laptop and itz locked.it shows hfa power house and below tht it ask for username and password which i dnt know.so can tht problem be solved by formatting if yes thn how can i format and if no thn wat is d procedure to unlock my macbook
Josh on December 5th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
This actually worked. Thank you so much.
Make sure you type the spaces in the text prompt info. You have to look closely at the code posted but you can see the spaces if you try. I tried it a couple times and it wasn’t working. I then came back and made sure I had it written right, checked al the spaces, re-did it and it worked fine. To get all your old info, as said, just create your new account, when asked to transfer your info at setup, keep it as it is (DO NOT TRANSFER) and continue. After you eventually get to your brand new desktop. Go to your system preferences, and change the password of your old account by unchecking “Give this user administrator priveleges” or whatever..then you can either keep the password off, or change it to something else. Just use a password you’ll always remember. Even for the new admin account. It makes it so much easier. I always make mine Pazzword for things I’m not worried about the security on. Then just sign into your old account and do whatever you want with all your old stuff.
Anyhow, thanks again.
Gustavo on December 21st, 2008 at 12:59 am
AWESOME!!!! What a lifesaver!!!! YOU RULE!!! Thanks!
Sid on December 23rd, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I don’t have a mac keyboard. I only have a normal microsoft one.. what button is considered the apple button?
eyelid on December 25th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
This worked like a dream and saved me a lot of heartache over a dodgy ebay purchase and very upset daughter on christmas! Thank you!
omolof on December 26th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Nope. Doesn’t work. I’ve tried different combinations offered in the comments as well.
I’ve got an old imac (not sure of the date) running OS X. It’s just got the original owner’s name for sign in.
Any other suggestions? Oh, and requires: /sbin/fsk -y before entering /sbin/mount -uw
when i complete the directions you offered, it reboots then shows me the original screen, with the original username and no additional user option.
boo hoo hoo. please help. thanks!
Thomas Stricker on December 27th, 2008 at 11:44 am
… b… sh.. more difficulties with that comment editor … allowing Basic HTML is not a good idea.
While the given trick of deleting that particular flag file to fool the system intoa nother initial system setup is cute, it is not a robust and direct method to create a password free login. It might not work on older OS Xes…
The following direct method works as follows on anything with a netinfo database, i.e Puma, Jaguar, Panther up to Tiger or OS X10.1-10.4.
Boot into single user (Command S at startup)
Optional, required only if system was not shut down properly, which might well be the case… if you break into an unknown system, you never know for sure…
# fsck -fy
Mount the root file system read/write
# mount -uw /
Start the commandline tool to modify the netinfo database, where all user names and passwords are stored.
# nicl -raw /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb
Goto users directory in the database
> cd users
List directory with all user names (many are system users that can not log in)
> list
Pick the user that is the likely to be the standard user (that shows up in the dialog) – if the startup dialog is not set to a list you can also pick “root”
> cd
Remove password
> create . passwd “”
Remove the shadow hash method
> delete . authentication_authority
Quit the Netinfo Tool
> Quit
Continue the boot into multi user mode
# logout
… booting continues, passwd should now be empty.
That is how I could get into any system that allows me to enter the single user mode. It is the Next Inc. way of editing the /etc/passwd in other unix system.
I heard that Leopard (10.5) is different. I have not yet have to remove passwords from Leopard machines.
Regards
Thomas M. Stricker
Devin on December 31st, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I needed to reset my admin user’s password on a OS X 10.5 machine today. I can confirm that the instructions on this macosxhints.com article worked: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080414140636495
1. Boot into single user mode (press Command-S at power on)
2. Type fsck -fy
3. Type mount -uw /
4. Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
5. Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password, replacing username with the targeted user and password with the desired password.
6. Reboot
MOCREATIVE on January 5th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
this worked perfect & for a non tech guy, that’s exciting! I followed your instructions, then went in & changed the password to ONE I CAN REMEMBER! ha – THANKS!!!!
Supertech on January 19th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Confirmed Fix. Does Work.
David on January 26th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Thank you so much! This saved my ass. I upgraded from 10.3 with a DVD from work. I let it run, when I came back the login was up. The autologin was gone? I tried every account and pw I knew was on the system, no luck. I tried to use Systemstarter to start Netinfo so I could just reset the password but the process had been forked. I tried this and just redid the account. Reimported a few things and done. Thanks again!!!!!
Nicholas Paugam on January 31st, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Will somebody please seriously help me? I will pay you via paypal if I have too. I am a musician and I have hundreds of songs I can’t afford to lose. I do not have the boot disk, and I can’t lose all the info. I’ve tried booting in the single user mode, but one of the commands isn’t right, it says no variable or something. Please email me asap. I’m running osx 10.4
mik on February 4th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
well my school is the administrator and i was wandering if you can tell me some way to completely wipe out my computer and still keep my files
Tina on February 6th, 2009 at 7:10 am
I bought an iMac at a pawn shop for $50, the previous own passworded almost everything. Of course they passworded the updates, so I cant update my computer that is 2004 and 2005 as the newest updates. I am showing the computer is running OS 9 and OS X, does new admin password reset thing work?? I dont want to lose $50!!
Please Help!
jessica on February 6th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
i need help.. we did this on the laptop and it goes to the initial startup screen.. and says to registrer and stuff but then when creating an account it says to select a picture and they dont come up and then it doesnt continue.. you have to press go back then continue for it to say “Creating an account” but then it just says it fails and it wont create an account so its jsut the same thing over and over and im stuck in setup any help??
Edward on February 8th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
So does this delete the original user account?
(I was to lazy to read all of the comments to find out)
miguel on February 15th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
omg…everything was workin fine until i registrated it and then answered the few more questions thing and then it just stayed on one screen and nothin happened..i waited for a long time and nothing happen….can you please help me and tell me what went wrong…what i might be able to do…or is there another way?
miguel on February 15th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
i have the same problem as jessica …..i need help.. i did this on the laptop and it goes to the initial startup screen.. and says to registrer and stuff but then when creating an account it says to select a picture and they dont come up and then it doesnt continue.. you have to press go back then continue for it to say “Creating an account” but then it just says it fails and it wont create an account so its jsut the same thing over and over and im stuck in setup any help??
miguel on February 16th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
can someone please help me out….message me to miguel-gsxr-1300@hotmail.com if you can please.
sanchita on February 17th, 2009 at 11:10 am
please can you help me i want my stolen password to be reset at any cost. please do contact me on sharma.sanchita@ymail.com as soon as possible.
Nagi on February 27th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I just whanted to say thanks for this info It worked just fine for me.
Thanks
darin on March 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 am
I just used the procedure Reset OS X Password Without an OS X CD for a ibook G4 10.2 – upon rebooting and going into System Preferences/Accounts, I see a new account created “system administrator …standard” (the original account is there also). I was able to create a password, however after rebooting, NOTHING shows up on my desktop, it appears everything is gone! I try and select the original Account name, but still nothing happens. Please help, everything is on here…….somewhere I hope. Someone please respond.
Confused on March 5th, 2009 at 10:37 am
i am confused do not how to act the commands help please please please x
tariq kayani on March 6th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
thank you so much. This worked fine. This is great help.
Todd on March 12th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
The only thing I changed to get this working is the first line
It doesnt work for me as
mount -uw
Instead you need to put in /sbin/mount -uw
And then every thing else
Works perfect
apple on March 21st, 2009 at 11:05 pm
We tried your commands as stating to reset for administration passwords but we did not receive a text for next command
Adnan M. S. Fakir on March 23rd, 2009 at 11:09 am
It Works!!! Thanks! =D
violet on March 24th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
I cant do! Can any of you boys help me..i found this ibook mac os x and i cant hack into the administrator password
write to me here salthedog@hotmail.com plz!!! :D<333
vicky Pearman on March 26th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I try doing what you wrote and it didn’t work, so I try it any but this time without the cap letters in applesetupdone and got in. You can try it, it may work for you it did for me.
vicky Pearman on March 26th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Make sure you uses the space bar -./ like it shows
Allerbe on April 4th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
BEWARE!!!! This tip left me stranded. Mac OS X Server. The procedure will throw me into Assistent alright, but once there all menu options are greyed out, and the setup assistent will NOT run. I have no idea how to get back. Anyone? (Thanks in advance!)
I should have followed the cd /Users advice in one of the comments, because it was the user name that I was missing, not the password.
Daniel on April 7th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
THIS WORKS!!!! who cares about the lost info. :) I tried everything but this finally worked
THANK YOU SOOOO SOOSOSOSOSO MUCH
Mustafa on April 9th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
PLEASE ENTER “mount -uw /” (WITHOUT QUOTATIONS) IF YOU GET ERROR MESSAGES WHEN YOU TYPED “mount -uw”
angel on April 10th, 2009 at 11:04 am
im having problems reseting it. i used the keys but it worked until registration and now im trying to press the apple+s down i never hear the chime. can anyone please help me.
kenneh on April 24th, 2009 at 1:06 am
I tried this on my system but now it doesnt start up anymore the only thing that appears is an error screen saying i need to restart my comp. I went into Apple-s mode and it runs a long script and concludes with Panic we are hanging here. please help!! I did this and now my comp is broken!
fernando on May 4th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
antes que nada como estan?.. bueno espero que puedan ayudarme y ver si me pueden dar una ayuda o solucion.. yo tengo una mac os x 10.3.4 y sigo los pasos pero no me ingresa en modo monousuario.. que alguien me explique detalladamente como es que tengo que presionar comando + s… lo mantengo presionado pero no me aparece nada mi mac inicia normalmente y me canse de probar, intente de mil formas, mantenerlos presionados antes de encender el mac, despues del tono de inicio. y bueno hasta que se termino de cargar la ventana de inicio de sesion.. por favor.. que alguien me ayude. tengo esta mac con la contraseña de administrador que no tengo ni idea de cual es, porque como se deben imaginar, la compre usada. bueno espero su colaboracion. les dejo mi mail. sosa_235@hotmail.com
Muchas Gracias.
Hasta Luego.
fernando on May 4th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Before that not like at all estan? .. good I hope that they could help and see if they can give me a help or solution me .. I have a mac you x 10.3.4 and follow(continue) the steps but me monouser does not join way .. that someone explains to me detailed like it(he,she) is that I have to press command + s … I keep it pressed but it(he,she) me does not appear at all my mac initiates normally and get tired of proving(trying), try of thousand forms, to keep them pressed before igniting the mac, after the tone of beginning. And good until stops being loaded the window of beginning of meeting .. please .. that someone helps me. I have this mac with the manager’s password that I have not even idea of which(who) is, because since(as,like) they must imagine, buy it used. Good I wait for his(her,your) collaboration. I leave my mail them. Sosa_235@hotmail.com Thank you very much.
Bye-bye.
Jose on May 5th, 2009 at 12:13 am
THanks! I just bought a used i Mac for my niece and could not figure my way around to change the admin password this helped a lot thanks!!!
Chris Leeds on May 7th, 2009 at 11:27 am
On an old iMac G3 500…
YOUR TIP ROCKED! SAVED ME HOURS!
thanks
chris@wellconnectedlife.com
MrD on May 8th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
I need to archive and install my mac book pro. I can only get the cd from the Apple manufacturer. I dont have a credit card. Can someone please tell me how i can do this myself. Please write to me at merkury_002@yahoo.com . Thank you.
kyle on May 13th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
i try this and it doesnt work . it brings me to the initial startup screen with the different languages it then says tiger 10.4.10. andthen i put in the languge and etc. put in my new username and password then it goes back to the beginning of the startup what can i do ? when i tried this it said .applesetupdone: command not found after i could not get applesetupdone to work i rebooted and this is what happened
stan on May 17th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
I tried it and it works! I was really bummed with my used mac, no disc, no admin. password, no luck. All I can say is you ROCK!!! THANKS
Kidd on May 18th, 2009 at 6:23 am
After having success on setting a new account the first time, when I logged out it didn’t seen to recognized my new passwd and now that I’m trying to set another account it saids that an error occurred in the server with this text “-[NSPathStore2 rangeOfString:option:range:]“..can someone help me figure out what i need to do next or if I’m in trouble…thx
David on May 20th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Didn’t work. Typed rm /var/db/ AppleSetupDone many times and I get “No such file or directory.
Please advise,
David
David on May 20th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Tried sh /etc/rc
but your other commands still didn’t work.
Rose on May 23rd, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I wonder if you can help. I have the installation CDs, I know the administrator user name and password. However, when I was doing my “spring house cleaning” on my Mac, I deleted the file that could remember and recognized my user name and password….. Now I am trying to reboot from the installation CD to reset my administrator user name and password, but I can’t boot up my Mac with the installation CD while holding down the C key, I only get the “Do not enter” sign on the gray screen. What should I do Now?
woww on October 17th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
hold down the alt key after you hear the mac’s start up sound. then choose the disk you want to boot from. good luck:))
angel on May 25th, 2009 at 9:11 am
what if you cannot hear the chime anymore? can anyone please help me. send me a message to miguel-gsxr-1300@hotmail.com..ive tried everything and now the chime does not come on.
Nathan I. on May 25th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Recently I bought a used EMac G4 and I needed a password for something. I couldn’t get the password so I used the instructions at the beginning of the page to try and rest the password. I didn’t look at the comments to see that I shouldn’t have used it. When the computer started back up, it went through the set-up stage and I was pleased. The whole set-up was fine until i tried to create an account. When I clicked Continue from the page where it asks you to put in a password and stuff to protect your account, the computer says that there is an error with setting up an account. After I click OK to get rid of the message it starts the whole process all over again and I did the process all over as well and the message still said there was an error. Does anyone know a way that I am able to fix this or would I have to download a new version of OS X? ANY help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanx!!!
Kelum Ekanayaka on June 15th, 2009 at 1:17 am
Thanx it works!
thoidaionline on June 15th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Thank you theappleblog so much!
paul on June 23rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
This thing works..i have managed to get past the password..something else though, my computer is a MaG5 and its on Mac OS X; i have set the new account as the admnistrator but there are files in the former account that i cannot still access. I already set the account as standard. How do i go about that?
cid on July 26th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
if you want to access the files you can’t
go to get info
and change sharing and permissions to read and write
cheers
Kay on June 23rd, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Thanks!
~iMac G4, OS X Tiger
patrick on June 29th, 2009 at 9:57 am
this is exactly what i needed. you saved me alot of money!
thanks.
la la on June 30th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
When you say apple+s do you mean shift or the letter s
Angelica on July 4th, 2009 at 12:02 am
I used this with my Macbook running OS X 10.4.6 and it worked. It didn’t work immediately I had to muck around with the spaces eg. not follow the above prompts to the spacing but it did work at the end!!! My Macbook had just returned from the Repairers who have put a password into my MB AND lost my install disc that they took responsibility for. I was going to have to wait weeks to get the replacement installation disc from Apple so thanks for this tip!
Valaina on July 4th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Could somebody help me?
I used this method to create a new account, which worked perfectly in just one try. But when i have to fill in my data (Apple ID, name, address, etc.) the keyboard is blocked! It just makes this annoying sound when i press any key. Without entering your data you obviously can’t continue registration.
Is this because my laptop is overheated? Or is something else the matter?
Help would be very much appreciated, since my laptop is useless this way!
Ankit on July 12th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
this fix works great!
Thanks dude!
Mags on July 14th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Absolutley brilliant! Worked a charm
SK on July 20th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
My mac admin password is not working, I can still login with the help of the mac installation disk and resetting password utility. I have only one user(admin) on our mac. I already reset my password using os x disk but when I enter my new user name and password for any administrative task. It gives me error – invalid password. I can see my password hint changed(it is same as I enter when I reset my original password). My problems is – I want to change my admin account password but don’t want to change my user profiles i.e. user’s desktop settings, networks settings, mounted drive, installed printers etc. I don’t want to loose my user settings.
Mike on July 21st, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Ok, everything seemed to be fine until I registered the new account. It
“spun” around for about 5-10 minutes and gave me a message
Sorry, an unexpected error has occurred. (unable to add standard user)
Can anyone advise? Thanks in advance
Jo on July 25th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
thanks every one, this threads been great, managed to reset my clamshell which I bought but couldn’t get in
lookingforhelp on July 26th, 2009 at 10:39 am
“i need help.. we did this on the laptop and it goes to the initial startup screen.. and says to registrer and stuff but then when creating an account it says to select a picture and they dont come up and then it doesnt continue.. you have to press go back then continue for it to say “Creating an account” but then it just says it fails and it wont create an account so its jsut the same thing over and over and im stuck in setup any help??”
i have the same problem when i tried this method. after it asks me what my computer will be mainly used for it freezes and does nothing. some insight to this is greatly appreciated
thanks
Suspect on July 28th, 2009 at 5:45 am
This worked a treat!!
Sioux2385 on July 30th, 2009 at 1:07 am
I have a Mac 4 Desktop (?) I had my password changed because I forgot it But I lost a lot of valuable templates and pictures! How do I get them back?
Sioux2385
DD on July 31st, 2009 at 8:04 am
Is there a way to use this method with a windows based KB as i havent got a mac one? the only one that i have that will work with the tower is a USB one..
Chris on August 12th, 2009 at 10:34 am
DD, you can use any USB keyboard on your Mac–just use the Windows button in place of the Apple button and it’ll work the same. Alt can be used in place of option, also.
OP, this is a great trick. Hopefully it’ll keep working in 10.6.
lj on August 3rd, 2009 at 9:13 pm
this is the SHIZNITS MAn, thanks a bunch!!!!!!!!!
Killo on August 5th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Great post. Worked just as you said it would. Plus, I still have the old admin as a user in case he wants all his girlfriend’s naked pictures back. LoL
Thanks a million!
Anthony on August 8th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Wow it sounds like everyone has had great luck with this blog or whatever I have a MacBook with OSX 10.4.11 and I’ve tried the
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now
then
#sh /etc/rc
#passwd *username*
#reboot
I don’t know if there is something I’m missing. This is my first Mac now I’m kinda having doubts if anyone can help please e-mail me.
tweet on August 12th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Thanks for the info. My stepmother got a new mac notebook and several months later gave me her desktop model. It is locked and she swears that she can’t remember the name or password that she used!!! She doesn’t have an installation CD and I wasn’t sure what to do! I’m going to try your method. Wish me luck!!!!
Kevin on August 14th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I’m using a Mac OS X version 10.5.7 , i tried through :
-command+s
-mount-uw/
-rm/var/db.AppleSetupDone
-shutdown-h now
Those things doesn’t work :|
Kevin on August 14th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
hey ! when I finished add one more admin into my mac , and when I using the new admin so how can I see all application from another one ???
cj on August 19th, 2009 at 12:00 am
need help. i turn on my mac and after the sound i press apple than s and i doesnt take me any where.?
rachel on August 19th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
TO EVERYONE STUCK IN SINGLE USER MODE:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA20809?viewlocale=en_US
That link totally helped me! I’m never using one of these sites again, way too confusing for a novice!!!
Nichole on August 21st, 2009 at 8:16 pm
honestly dont understand how everyone else is having problems..
but it worked just fine for me.
thanks for the post. :D
fly on August 23rd, 2009 at 5:20 pm
a good looks i forgot my password andm im bck in play boi thanks
Paul on August 25th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Good one. Much appreciated – got me out of a hole.
gerard on August 26th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
have a new model macbook pro 4 gb and i have forgot password, well kids have made a new one. have started up and at apple sound pressed command then -s and held but all i get is a clicking sound. please can anyone explain in plain english whats wrong or how i go about breaking into my apple. on holiday at the moment and need to do some work. thanks. gerard44t@aol.com
kk on August 31st, 2009 at 6:51 am
legends!!!!!!!!
linda on September 7th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
OMG … it totally works … I have 10.4 Tiger. It works. though at first i thought it didn’t cause you really have to carefully enter all spacing and etc. but it totally works, thank you sooooo very much.
smh on September 18th, 2009 at 8:08 am
I’ve tried everything and it just isn’t working i can’t download anything because i don’t know the password or change any of the settings and it’s pretty much unusable at this point now
anyone know where im going wrong? i’ve tried it in just like it’s on here
rez on September 18th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Reset 10.5 Leopard password
1. Power on or restart your Mac.
2. At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode.
3. This step is optional, but it’s a good idea because it checks the consistency of the hard disk before moving on. At the prompt, type fsck -fy and press Enter/Return. Wait for the checks to complete before going to the next step.
4. Type mount -uw / and press Enter.
5. Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist and press Enter.
6. Type ls /Users and press Enter. This lists all of the usernames on the computer – helpful if you don’t know or remember what these are.
7. Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password and replace “username” with one of the users displayed in the previous step. Replace “password” with a new password of your choice. Press Enter.
8. Type reboot and press Enter.
Reset 10.4 Tiger password
1. Power on or restart your Mac.
2. At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode.
3. Type sh /etc/rc and press Enter/Return.
4. Type passwd username and replace “username” with the short name of the user account for which you’d like to reset the password.
5. Type your desired password and press Enter. It won’t show itself on the screen, so be careful what you type. You will most likely have to enter it again to confirm.
6. Type reboot and press Enter.
tom on October 20th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Rez
Thanks MAN, you really helped me!
only dscl . -passwd didn’t work for me but you certainly got me in the right direction: I had to do
dscl . -delete /Users/username AuthenticationAuthority
Note: Replace “username” with the affected user account’s short name you noted above.
Press Return
Type this, followed by Return: passwd username
reboot
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1543
Juice-Tin on September 24th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I did your code thingy and now when I turn on my computer it goes to the login page but dosn’t show anything just the loading sign and just sits there
john on September 30th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Hi,
I’ve try this:
1.Reboot
2.Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime.
3.When you get text prompt enter in these terminal commands to create a brand new admin account (hitting return after each line):
•mount -uw /
•rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
•shutdown -h now
And now my Mac Mini kept reboot, I can’t access my Mac os x 10.5.4
Can someone help.
Test on October 5th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Enable a firmware password
rikee on October 6th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Worked excellent even remotely on a PC guy…that is proof of working :-). Thanks
Tyler on October 8th, 2009 at 5:57 am
OMG THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH it worked amazingly BTW you know when it worked after you type exit a shit load of words n crap fly through the screen its like your starting up again go with the flow DO NOT TRANSFER i was hesitant at first just gotta have faith. after its quite simple System pref accounts n there it is your old account unlock it change its password delete the new account and your done! =D i have macbook 10.5.7 and macbook pro runnin leo worked for both
Brian on October 12th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
i cant seem to get it to work for me
ive done it before but i got another one and i did it, now it jus goes through it and at the last question i click and it says creating account but then it restarts the thing. and i try it again, and it goes through the reboot again.
Andy on October 19th, 2009 at 6:26 am
Tried the above and got the new user setup wizard on reboot. After entering all the new details I receive an internal server error and standard user not setup any help would be appreciated. Thanks Andy
cheef on October 19th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
ive got a ibookg4 with mac 0sx i cant use the cd dvd drive due to the admin pass word when i restart using this article it restarts and alls it does it sends me to a screen where i have to enter a pass word i can get past that using a password but to change anything i have to have a password for the admin what do i do?
maddison on October 22nd, 2009 at 3:36 pm
does this actually work without messing up my apple mac? cause its actually my dads apple mac that he bought off a friend a couple of weeks ago and it was his girlfriends computer but she didnt tell us the password so we cant install anything onto it. just wondering that if i done this would it work as its my dads laptop and i will get into ALOT of trouble if i broke it or messed it up.
write back thanks x
loti on October 26th, 2009 at 2:57 am
good one…. it worked fine.. tnx
gem on October 26th, 2009 at 2:58 am
great it helped me too
hannah on October 26th, 2009 at 6:26 am
ur AWESOME……. tnx a bunch
hugh on November 6th, 2009 at 2:39 am
It worked fine for me.
This Emac was given to me, and I needed the admin PW to update. It wasn’t available, so this is great.
jence on November 7th, 2009 at 2:22 am
i have the same problem, i cannot downlod anything on my mac pro because there’s anadmin password. what wwill i press on the keyboard for apple and s keys. thanks a lot
jence on November 7th, 2009 at 2:45 am
hello again, i was trying this one but it says root device is mounted read-only, firewire unable to determine security mode, defaulting to full-secure…. please help me what to do. thanks a lot…
Lee on November 11th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Works like a dream, Thank you so much
simon on November 13th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
thanx alot it is fantastic
andy on November 15th, 2009 at 6:30 am
hello,
i did what is posted and it worked because now my imac boots up like its the first time. but now it gets stuck once the little movie begins. everything just freezes!
can anybody help me with this problem??
thanks.
jen on November 15th, 2009 at 11:00 am
worked perfectly, thank you!!!