FileVault-enabled MacBook asking for old password after resetting via 'resetpassword' in recovery mode

i have tried the 'resetpassword' option through the terminal in recovery mode and ended up with something where there seems to be no way out as per Support apart from erasing the reinstalling mac. So actually i am kind of in a rare situation / scenario, before i take a decision what i should do further i am basically looking for two things :

1) Some expert who actually understands apple security / recovery mode resetpassword flow to confirm me there is no way out

2) Way to escalate this to apple technical / executive team -> because i wasn't warned while i am following the steps that i would end up here. I strongly feel apple should at least acknowledge it.

I have been asking these from official Apple Support , but they are just book readers or process followers not doing anything apart from suggesting that only option is to erase and proceed. So any help from someone who truly understnad apple security / 'resetpassword' is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

The weird scenario i have encounted and reason for the no way out as per the Support team and my own understanding is :

FileVault was enabled and FindMyMac was not enabled.

My compalin is, it let me reset it and after i restarted the mac it's asking for the old password. because it seems when the filevault is enabled it needs the old password. Seriously ? why did it let me reset in the first place is my question actually. did i not reset it only because i forgot the old password right ? now how can i give it that password ? that's where i am not able to accept the fact that this flow was even enabled and i am demanding written explanation from Apple and their support is not just not doing it. So trying my help. Please be kind and let me know if you need any other information or if i should reach out to anyone or post in any other forum as well. Thank you 🤝

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Macbook let me reset my password, but asking for the old password after restarting

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.5

Posted on Aug 15, 2025 06:44 AM

Top-ranking reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

121,250 points

Posted on Aug 16, 2025 10:46 AM

codedil wrote:

Hi @Barney-15E ,

I am not sure what's your intentions here but you are definetly not helping. Please try to ignore if you don't / can't understand the issue that one is trying to highlight let alone the pain or the difficulty one had to go through. Thank you.

I understand it completely. You don’t. I’m not sure why. It has been explained over and over. Since “resetpassword” doesn’t have any authorization mechanism in place, resetting the password that way will not change the FireVault password nor will it unlock the keychain of that user. Both of those would be a security failure of epic proportions.

If you enabled FireVault without creating a recovery key or tying it to your Apple Account, there is no way to recover the password. Again, being able to recover a password implies the security of the host is weak if not insecure. A secure system should never record your password. It should create a hash and record that. You cannot derive the original information from a hash.

If you did not enable FileVault and you can manage to reset your password to one it recognizes, that will likely decrypt the drive. If you can no longer enter Recovery to try to reset the password again, there is nothing else to do. Your data is hopelessly locked away.

If your Mac is from prior to 2018, then the data is not encrypted unless you enable FileVault.

You want magic to happen. The magic you seek was a backup, or a Recovery key, or linking your FileVault password to your Apple Account. You failed to prepare for disaster in every way.

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31 replies

codedil Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 16, 2025 11:57 PM in response to steve626

Hi @steve626, Thank you for the knowledge / info. Noted.

FileVault-enabled MacBook asking for old password after resetting via 'resetpassword' in recovery mode