Administrator password not working on Mac? Fix it

Several users have reported that they are no longer able to enter the administrator (admin) password on their Mac because the password is no longer accepted. In this article we explain how you can solve the problem if your administrator password no longer works on your Mac

Users have reported that after entering their password, the password field becomes wobbly and indicates that an incorrect password has been entered. This means that they are unable to enter their account password. Users have also reported that System Preferences does not accept their administrator password. If System Preferences does not accept your Mac's password, you will not be able to make changes to the system, such as adding or removing users, when you click the lock icon to make changes.

See also: How to fix MacBook overheating after an update

Some users have also claimed that the problem only occurred after one or more macOS updates. There could be several reasons why your Mac seems to forget your valid password and reject it. For example, it could be due to a software bug. In this article, we explain how you can fix these problems.

See also: Are system settings busy?

Your Mac can have several regular user accounts. You can also have several administrator accounts. Your administrator password gives you administrator privileges on your Mac. An administrator has the right to make system-wide changes to your Mac, including

Before you do anything, make sure you've entered your password correctly. Only continue if your Mac won't accept a valid administrator password. This means your password won't work even if it's the correct one. Please note that it is Several ways to recover your administrator password if it has been changed or forgotten.

See also: KernelManagerd causes high CPU load and battery drain

Update your Mac

The first thing you should do is try to update your Mac. Of course, macOS updates are system-level changes that, as you might think, require administrator privileges, meaning your administrator password is needed. But the answer is no. You can update your Mac with a user account when you need to log into your Mac.

Just go to System Preferences > Software Update. If updates are available, follow the on-screen instructions to download and install them.

Restart the SMC

It seems that some Mac computers with the Apple T2 Security Chip are experiencing this issue. If your Mac has this chip, this may be the reason. It seems that resetting the SMC (System Management Controller) will resolve this issue. If you are not sure if your Mac has this chip, you can go to Apple Menu > System Information. In the sidebar, click Hardware and then Controller or iBridge. Then check that it says “T2 Chip”.

We recommend that you reset the SMC even if your Mac does not have the Apple T2 Security Chip. Here's how

Los portable Macs that have the T2 chip:

1. Shut down your Mac (Apple menu > Shut Down).
2. Look for these three keys on your keyboard: Control, Option (Alt), Shift.
3. Press these three keys and hold them for seven seconds.
4. After 7 seconds, press and hold the power button (now go to Control, Option, Shift, and Power).
5. Hold these four buttons for 7 seconds. After 7 seconds, release all buttons.
6. Hold for 15 seconds
7. Next, turn on your Mac by pressing the power button.

Desktop Macs with T2 chip

• Shut down your Mac
• Unplug the power cord.
• Wait 15 seconds.
• Reconnect the power cord.
• Wait 5 seconds.
• Turn on your Mac by pressing the power button

Even if you have this password problem on your Mac without T2 chip, you should consider resetting the SMC. Please read our previous article explaining this process: How to reset the SMC

Create a new administrator account

Please note that this method may not work for you. You may be asked for your administrator password.

If you still have this problem, you need to create another administrator account. Since we cannot use the system settings, we will use the Bus Terminal

See also: How to boot into single-user mode or verbose mode on macOS

Additionally, you can use this new account to give admin rights to your original account and then delete the new account. Here's how

First, we need to determine the name of your startup disk. You can find it by going to System Preferences > Startup Disk. Make a note of your startup disk, which is usually your Macintosh hard drive.

Now we're going to put your Mac into recovery mode. (Since you'll lose this page during this process, write down or print out the following steps and open them on another device.) Here's how:

1. Shut down your Mac. Make sure your Mac is completely shut down.
2. Press the power button and immediately hold down the Command-R keys
3. This opens the macOS Utilities window
4. Click Utilities > Terminal in the menu bar.
5. This will open Terminal. Type the following command into Terminal and press Enter:

rm “/Volumes/Macintosh HD/var/db/.applesetupdone.”

6. Make sure there is a space after rm. Also make sure to insert the quote.
7. Next, enter the following code:

reboot

8. And follow the instructions that appear on the screen

You can now use this new account to reset your original password.

See also: This password appeared in a data leak: security recommendations for the iPhone