Anyone know anything about MacBooks?

[SGirl]

Any help would be much appreciated, before I set fire to the thing!

I logged in to my MacBook perfectly well the other day. Today, it’s telling me my passwords (two accounts on it) aren’t correct. Okay, so I try changing them - no go. I’ve tried resetting - nope. I’ve finally erased the thing, but it’s telling me I have to log in with the forgotten password to erase it.

From here, I confirmed both my phone number and my email address. Now it’s asking for a phone number I genuinely don’t recognise, one ending in 77 - I don’t have any numbers ending in 77.

Does anyone know how I can erase it for good and return it to factory settings, but without its password? It keeps telling me I’ve entered the wrong thing too many times and to try again later.

I am never, ever buying another MacBook.

[Rollin]

No expert, but an Apple Store would be my first call. They've always been helpful with the rare issues I've had. I can imagine them wanting proof of purchase though.

[SGirl]

Thanks! I’ll give them a go. They should have a record of my purchase, I’ve got a business account with them.

[Grumps.]

If it’s the latest os I had the same problem a week or so ago, but I managed to reinstall the os and get access with setting the new password same as the original.

Took about 45 mins in total and I know for a fact the password was correct as I have always used the same one for all my logins on IT stuff.

However, being completely hopeless I couldn’t tell you the process I had to go through.

[megaphone]

Do you have any other Apple devices? Is your Macbook still showing up in your iCloud account?

[maccas99]

Grumps. said:

If it’s the latest os I had the same problem a week or so ago, but I managed to reinstall the os and get access with setting the new password same as the original.

Took about 45 mins in total and I know for a fact the password was correct as I have always used the same one for all my logins on IT stuff.

However, being completely hopeless I couldn’t tell you the process I had to go through.

Unrelated to the MacBook issue, I would recommend using a password manager and start changing all your passwords before you get hacked! Something free like Bitwarden will get you going.

[maccas99]

megaphone said:

Do you have any other Apple devices? Is your Macbook still showing up in your iCloud account?

Along similar lines - if you can sign into iCloud with an account that exists on the MacBook successfully then you know your accounts are ok and it’s purely a MacBook issue. Pop down to the local Apple Store and they should be able to sort it.

[mmm-five]

maccas99 said:

Unrelated to the MacBook issue, I would recommend using a password manager and start changing all your passwords before you get hacked! Something free like Bitwarden will get you going.

But what if you forget/lose your Bitwarden master password, and can't remember your account details to prove you're the genuine user?
I just stick a post-it note to the inside of my screen with all the passwords...can't be hacked then

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 15th August 14:24

[Bikerjon]

SGirl said:

Today, it’s telling me my passwords (two accounts on it) aren’t correct. Okay, so I try changing them - no go. I’ve tried resetting - nope.

I can't see how you would be able to do any of the above if you can't login with at least one of the accounts. Sounds like it may be iCloud locked via an Apple ID?

[Hedgedhog]

SGirl said:

Any help would be much appreciated, before I set fire to the thing!

I logged in to my MacBook perfectly well the other day. Today, it’s telling me my passwords (two accounts on it) aren’t correct. Okay, so I try changing them - no go. I’ve tried resetting - nope. I’ve finally erased the thing, but it’s telling me I have to log in with the forgotten password to erase it.

From here, I confirmed both my phone number and my email address. Now it’s asking for a phone number I genuinely don’t recognise, one ending in 77 - I don’t have any numbers ending in 77.

Does anyone know how I can erase it for good and return it to factory settings, but without its password? It keeps telling me I’ve entered the wrong thing too many times and to try again later.

I am never, ever buying another MacBook.

I'm not quite sure how you are able to attempt to reset your password or erase MacOS without being logged into the machine. That's also quite a nuclear option to having a password issue. May I ask how you managed to "erase the thing" without being logged into the machine?

It may be too later but are you sure it isn't as simple as having Caps Lock engaged when you type your password?

Are you sure it's your machine?

[SGirl]

I've sorted it - I managed to wipe the machine and go all the way back to the original password that I used to set it up in the first place.

It was allowing me to enter one of the admin usernames plus its password (= incorrect), then asking me to confirm the account to change the password. To do this, I had to verify via my phone (fine), then via an email (also fine) - and then it was asking me to confirm a trusted phone number ending in 77. This was the main problem - I don't have a phone number ending in 77, and as far as I know I never have!

Never mind. The long and the short of it is always note down default Mac passwords on pieces of paper, because they're a bugger to get into if your latest password is wrong for some reason.

Good job I don't use the machine much!

Thanks for all your help!

[sunbeam alpine]

A bit late now you've sorted it, and maybe not relevant to your situation, but if you're sure that you're entering the correct password it might be worth checking that your machine hasn't changed the keyboard layout (don't know how to do tha on a Mac, sorry).

The reason that I'm posting is that my laptop swapped back to a US QWERTY keyboard a few weeks back (still don't know why). As I'm not in the UK, I have an AZERTY keyboard layout, so I was typing the right password but certain letters were swapped around. Took me a while to figure it out. One of the options at login is to call up an on-screen keyboard to enter your password, and it was then that I noticed that the keyboard layout had changed.

[C n C]

sunbeam alpine said:

A bit late now you've sorted it, and maybe not relevant to your situation, but if you're sure that you're entering the correct password it might be worth checking that your machine hasn't changed the keyboard layout (don't know how to do tha on a Mac, sorry).

The reason that I'm posting is that my laptop swapped back to a US QWERTY keyboard a few weeks back (still don't know why). As I'm not in the UK, I have an AZERTY keyboard layout, so I was typing the right password but certain letters were swapped around. Took me a while to figure it out. One of the options at login is to call up an on-screen keyboard to enter your password, and it was then that I noticed that the keyboard layout had changed.

Also obviously late, and not the solution to your problem, but I had a similar issue with a friends old Macbook not accepting the password.

Turned out the problem was that, for whatever reason, (battery complately exhaused?), the time had somehow got reset to the default time, and the incorrect time meant it was unable to sync/verify the password vs the iCloud one. Needed to log in in restricted/emergency mode and reset the time using the command line interface, after which it worked fine with the guy's normal password.

[maccas99]

mmm-five said:

But what if you forget/lose your Bitwarden master password, and can't remember your account details to prove you're the genuine user?
I just stick a post-it note to the inside of my screen with all the passwords...can't be hacked then

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 15th August 14:24

Can you see your screen with all the post-it notes for your passwords?

[Grumps.]

Hedgedhog said:

I'm not quite sure how you are able to attempt to reset your password or erase MacOS without being logged into the machine. That's also quite a nuclear option to having a password issue. May I ask how you managed to "erase the thing" without being logged into the machine?

It may be too later but are you sure it isn't as simple as having Caps Lock engaged when you type your password?

Are you sure it's your machine?

I think it only gives you this option if you get to the log in screen.

I hit “forgot password” as it just wouldn’t let me in and it gave two or three options, only one of which would work for me on my 2022 MBA.

[mmm-five]

maccas99 said:

Can you see your screen with all the post-it notes for your passwords?

I have them stacked, so just flip through them like a flip-book to imprint them on my retinas for a microsecond.