how to factory reset a locked macbook pro

This is illustrated in this Apple Support article. You should then see the password hint, which might give the password away, and brief instructions as to how you can see the options for resetting the password. If that isn’t there, try entering a random password three times to see if that triggers its appearance. At the right end of the box in which you enter your password, you should see a ? inside a circle. You’ll need your Mac to have an internet connection, and to have booted to the login screen. The process for resetting passwords was improved and rationalised in Catalina, although there’s still some variation between different systems. The Reset Password window should appear, giving instructions.Īlternatively, you can use a Recovery Key, if you’ve already obtained one.įull details are given in this Apple Support article.Press the Power button again to start it up.Then, press and hold the Power button until the Mac shuts down.Leave the Mac at the login screen for a minute or so, until there’s a message telling you that you can press the Power button to shut down and start up in Recovery.If the Mac is running Mojave or earlier and has FileVault turned on, you may be able to reset the password using its special assistant. Apple lists most of these in this article. The latter involves entering guessed passwords until you see an invitation to reset the password using Apple ID. You could do this from another admin account on that Mac, or using your Apple ID. If the user account doesn’t have FileVault enabled, there are several ways you can reset that user’s password in older versions of macOS.

The most reliable way to achieve this is to take the Mac to an Apple store, together with proof of purchase or ownership, and ask them to remove the firmware password.įurther information is in this Apple Support note, and in Mr. If your Mac still has removable memory, it’s possible to remove one stick and reset the NVRAM three times, but that’s not guaranteed. That rather depends on how it’s secured, which model it is, and whether its boot or data volume is encrypted.Ī firmware password is set and removed in Recovery, and can only normally be removed if you know the password. So how can you gain access to your Mac when you don’t know or can’t remember its password? Alternatively, the person who did know that password is no longer there to recall it when required. The moment anything is protected by a password, PIN code, or anything that needs to be remembered, there comes the time when your mind goes blank.

How to factory reset a locked macbook pro