February 2022 • Macworld 105Recover via login window
First, start up your Mac if it’s powered
down. (If you’re trying to reset the
password and your Mac is booted
and logged in, choose Command >
Restart.) Next, at the login screen
click your account icon:
- In Catalina and later, a password
field appears with a question mark
(?) at the far right. Click the question
mark. Some lengthy text appears that
starts “If you forgot your password
you can...” - In Mojave and earlier, you have to
enter your password incorrectly three
times before a prompt appears.
Now, depending on your choice
in setting up FileVault, you will see
one of several options (the text may
vary in Mojave and earlier releases
of macOS):
iCloud escrow: If you chose to store
your key in iCloud during FileVault
setup, the sentence above continues,
ellipsis and all, ‘...reset it using your
Apple ID’. Click the right-pointing
arrow and follow the steps provided to
log into the iCloud account associated
with this Mac. This will recover your
key, unlock the drive, and let you reset
your account password.
You kept the Recovery Key: If you
opted to write down the Recovery
Key, the text will continue ‘...reset
it using your Recovery Key’. Click
the right-pointing arrow and then
enter your Recovery Key, omitting
hyphens – macOS adds the hyphens
automatically. When correctly
entered, your drive is unlocked and
you can reset your account password.
Apple notes that – in some cases
that it doesn’t define – you might see
the text ‘Restart and show password
reset options’. If so, click the right-
pointing triangle. After your Mac
restarts, you’ll be asked for either an
Apple ID login or your Recovery Key.
Instead of first selecting a user and then
entering that information, enter your
recovery details first and then select
the user for which you’re resetting the
password to regain access.
If none of the above works, you can
try using macOS Recovery.Recover via macOS Recovery
The Reset Password assistant is
one of the last resorts to resetting a
password with FileVault enabled.
The process differs by processor.
With an Intel Mac:- Restart or press the power button
and then hold down Command-R