Discover The Hidden Password Reset Tool In Lion [OS X Tips]

By

davepwdwizard

Apple provides a password reset utility that is very handy when you really need it. In versions of Mac OS X before Lion you accessed this utility by booting your Mac with the included restore DVD. Mac OS X Lion can still reset passwords, but for unknown reasons Apple decided to hide this ability.

Today’s tip will show you how to discover the hidden password reset tool in the Mac OS X Lion Recovery HD Utility.

Older versions of Mac OS X included a utility that you could use to reset a password and restore a user’s folder permissions. Mac OS X Lion lost direct access to this utility, but it is still accessible from the Recovery HD. It is just harder to get too.

Whenever you need the utility access the Recovery HD by using Command+R while restarting your Mac. Once you are in the Recovery HD Utility open Terminal from its Utility menu and enter the following command:

resetpassword

and then press enter. This will launch the password utility, which is like the one that shipped with older versions of Mac OS X.

 

 

 

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