Reset Your Administrative Password with your Apple ID

by | Feb 20, 2013

Reset password with Apple IDA few years ago, I was helping a client upgrade her Mac running OSX 10.5 Leopard, but she couldn’t remember her administrative password. Because she had an older computer, I couldn’t boot into OSX’s Recovery Disk and reset it from there – I had to go so far as to create a new Root User account and administer her account from there.

A few weeks ago, I was working on the same issue for a senior citizen and was overjoyed to make use of a feature introduced in OSX 10.7 Lion: Allow User to Reset Password Using Apple ID.

When you attempt to reset an administrative password, it asks for that current password. If you’ve forgotten it, which may be why you wanted to reset it in the first place, this is no help at all. With this new option, after your third attempt, you will be given an opportunity to log in using your Apple ID and password in order to make the change.

The good news is that if you’ve also forgotten your Apple ID password, you can reset that at http://iforgot.apple.com.

If you have an aging parent using a Mac, this new option may become quite handy.

About Alicia Katz Pollock

With a Masters in Teaching from Tufts University, a QuickBooks®️ Online Advanced Certification and more than 30 years’ experience in the tech industry, Alicia is passionate about finding creative, practical solutions to complex and everyday tech problems. She also loves a good laugh!

Comments

5 Comments

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  2. Charles Nix

    I forgot to add that none of the cmd/c, cmd/s and such worked for me.

    Reply
  3. Charles Nix

    Wish i had found this earlier. Alas, too late. It has gotten to the point that I’ve gone through the three attempts at inserting password and getting the Apple ID part. For a while the password worked. I could get about, but not into anything that required an administrator/password. Then the opening page wouldn’t accept the password any longer. In other words I’m shut out of my computer. Can I get to the Apple ID assist from another computer? Any help would be much appreciated. I’ve read through many forums without finding an answer. I’m at wit’s end.

    Reply
    • Alicia Katz Pollock

      Yes, I have a more extensive answer for you! I have a thorough list of solutions in an article I wrote for TidBITS.com. You can read it at: http://tidbits.com/article/14437. Let me know if anything there solves your problem!

      Reply

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