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Lost the administrator password for my iMac, unable to upgrade OS. It's not the same as my Apple ID. How can I recover or change the password for the computer itself?

Lost the administrator password for the iMac. Can't upgrade OS without it. How to recover or change?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Jan 31, 2022 8:28 AM

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2 replies

Jan 31, 2022 8:37 AM in response to NewarkMarie

Here are the Apple Support articles on this topic:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202860

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212190


macOS 10.12 is very old, and you might end up deleting AppleSetupDone and recreating an admin login:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2001369


If the install is rubbish or was one you “took over”, maybe get a backup of your files, erase and reinstall a more current version, and restore your content..


Lost the administrator password for my iMac, unable to upgrade OS. It's not the same as my Apple ID. How can I recover or change the password for the computer itself?

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