Recovery Key
I am locked out of my Macbook Air because I forgot my password. It wants a recovery key for me to reset my password - which I cannot find. How can I get another recovery key?
Colette
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Hi Colette,
Unfortunately, you may be locked out of your Mac and its files. No one, not even Apple, can bypass the security measures implemented when FileVault is enabled.
FileVault encrypts (scrambles) all of the data stored on your Mac with a special key. This key is in turn encrypted so that it can only be accessed with a user account password or the recovery key shown by your Mac when you set up FileVault. If you have neither of these, you may be locked out of your Mac and unable to access your data.
When setting up FileVault, you were given the option to store your recovery key in iCloud. If you chose to do so, you can recover your data via the Password Reset Assistant:
- Turn on your Mac. Wait one minute at the login screen.
- A message should appear at the bottom of the screen. When it does, press and hold the power button on your Mac until it shuts off. (If your Mac has Touch ID, it serves as the power button.)
- Press the power button again to boot to the Password Reset Assistant. Once there, select "I forgot my password" and follow the onscreen instructions.
If another user account exists on your Mac and you know the password to it, please let me know and I will follow up with instructions for how to use it to reset your account's password.
If, unfortunately, no other accounts exist and you didn't store the recovery key in iCloud, there is no way to unlock your Mac without the recovery key shown when you set up FileVault. Generating a new recovery key requires your user password and can only be done when you are already logged in. You'll either have to restore from a backup or erase your Mac (and then reinstall macOS).
If you backed up your Mac with Time Machine, you can restore from a backup via these steps: Restore your Mac from a backup - Apple Support. Refer to the section titled "Restore both macOS and your files."
EDIT: If your Mac is supplied by an institution or company, please contact them. They may have configured a special recovery key which they can use to recover your data.
