I have an older iMAC running OSX Snow Lepard and I cant remember ADMIN password. How do I reset ?

I can't login as admin to my older iMAC running OS X Snow leopard i believe. It gives me a Password hint but I still can't figure it out and it doesn't allow me to rest it in any other way. Is there a way to reset it without having to reinstall OSX and wiping my HD?


iMac, OS X 10.10

Posted on Oct 13, 2025 7:20 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 13, 2025 2:48 PM

HWTech wrote:

IIRC, I believe you need to boot from the Snow Leopard upgrade DVD or restoration DVD where there should be a menu item for resetting the macOS password.


👍


... or Disc 1 of the two that were included with that Mac.


Boot from it, and when the OS X Utilities screen appears, click the Utilities menu > Terminal


At the prompt, type

resetpassword


... followed by the Return or Enter key.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 13, 2025 2:48 PM in response to Frankie5angels

HWTech wrote:

IIRC, I believe you need to boot from the Snow Leopard upgrade DVD or restoration DVD where there should be a menu item for resetting the macOS password.


👍


... or Disc 1 of the two that were included with that Mac.


Boot from it, and when the OS X Utilities screen appears, click the Utilities menu > Terminal


At the prompt, type

resetpassword


... followed by the Return or Enter key.

I have an older iMAC running OSX Snow Lepard and I cant remember ADMIN password. How do I reset ?

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