You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

I am trying to use my mac and can't sign-in or reset password because it asking for my old apple ID

I am trying to use my mac and can't sign-in or reset password because it asking for my old apple ID and this is no longer valid or supported.

How can I get in. I don't get the option forgot all passwords either. So what else can I do?

Posted on Feb 1, 2022 5:20 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 2, 2022 10:23 AM

It wasn't easy, but after scouring the internet I found a fix. For anyone that has the same issue, here is the answer


Use Single-User mode

Every Mac has a main user account called “root,” which is the system account that’s used to launch the essential background services required for your Mac to operate. While this account is generally hidden and inaccessible, you can quickly get to it for its administrative capabilities by booting your Mac into single-user mode.

To proceed you’ll need to know the short name of the account for which you would like to reset the password, and then perform the following steps:

  1. Restart your Mac and hold down Command-S at the boot chimes.
  2. When you see the command prompt, enter the following command to put the boot drive into read and write mode:
  3. mount -uw /
  4. Now run the following command to load Open Directory (Apple’s account directory service in OS X):
  5. launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.opendirectoryd.plist
  6. Reset the password for your user account by entering the following command (replace “username” with the short name of the desired account)
  7. passwd username


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 2, 2022 10:23 AM in response to haydeeO

It wasn't easy, but after scouring the internet I found a fix. For anyone that has the same issue, here is the answer


Use Single-User mode

Every Mac has a main user account called “root,” which is the system account that’s used to launch the essential background services required for your Mac to operate. While this account is generally hidden and inaccessible, you can quickly get to it for its administrative capabilities by booting your Mac into single-user mode.

To proceed you’ll need to know the short name of the account for which you would like to reset the password, and then perform the following steps:

  1. Restart your Mac and hold down Command-S at the boot chimes.
  2. When you see the command prompt, enter the following command to put the boot drive into read and write mode:
  3. mount -uw /
  4. Now run the following command to load Open Directory (Apple’s account directory service in OS X):
  5. launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.opendirectoryd.plist
  6. Reset the password for your user account by entering the following command (replace “username” with the short name of the desired account)
  7. passwd username


I am trying to use my mac and can't sign-in or reset password because it asking for my old apple ID

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.