Method #1 (Question mark method – via login window) Shut down the mac completely (be careful to not put it into Sleep mode) or restart it before you continue. If your user account is logged in already (your mac is locked after having been in Sleep mode), you won’t be able to follow the guide. This guide assumes you have just started or restarted your mac and you cannot log in.

See “How to find out whether you have an Intel-based mac?”

This guide assumes you have an Intel-based mac.

If you or your organization didn’t set up a recovery key in advance, it won’t be possible to follow this guide.

This guide assumes that you already have the recovery key.

If it doesn’t though, there is another method we can use to input the recovery key.

Provided that you have the recovery key, your mac should (ideally) prompt you to enter the recovery key automatically on the login screen. If you or your organization (school, employer) set up a recovery key for your mac, you can use it to reset your mac’s login password.

What is a recovery key for mac