How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?
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Reset your Mac OS X admin password following this simple and easy guide

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If you're logged into your Mac with your Apple ID account, you may be able to use it to reset your admin password. If you aren't you can use Recovery Mode on your Mac to open the Reset Password utility. You can also reset a password with another admin account on the computer. If you know your password, you can change it from the Users & Groups menu.

  1. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    1

    Reboot your computer. If you can't change your password using your Apple ID, you can use Recovery Mode to reset it. Recovery Mode needs to be accessed as your computer is starting up.

  2. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Hold . Command+R as soon as you hear the chime. Continue holding the keys until you see the loading bar appear. This will boot your Mac into Recovery Mode. It may take a while to load.[1]

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  3. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Click the "Utilities" menu and select "Terminal." You'll see the Utilities menu in the bar at the top of the screen.

  4. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Type .resetpassword and press Return. This will open the Reset Password utility.

  5. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Select your hard drive. If you have multiple drives in your Mac, you'll need to select the one that your operating system is on. This will typically be labeled "Macintosh HD."

  6. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Select the user account you want to change the password for. Use the drop-down menu to select your user account.

  7. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Create a new admin password. Enter your new admin password twice to create it.

  8. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Enter an optional password hint. This hint can be displayed if you're having difficulty logging in.

  9. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Click "Save" to save your new password. It will be applied when you reboot your computer.

  10. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Click the Apple menu and select "OS X Utilities" → "Quit OS X Utilities." Opt to restart your Mac when prompted. This will reboot your computer and apply your new password.

  11. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Log in with your new password. After rebooting, select your user account and log in with your new password.[2]

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  1. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    1

    Try entering a wrong password three times. If you enabled this security feature when you first set up your account, you'll be able to use your Apple ID to reset your password. This only works if this feature is enabled to begin with.

    • If you have access to your Mac, you can turn this setting on by clicking the Apple menu and selecting "System Preferences." Click the "Users & Groups" option, then select your account. Click the padlock button to unlock the settings, then click "Allow user to reset password using Apple ID."

  2. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Click the link that appears to reset your password. This will appear after entering your password incorrectly three times. If this option does not appear, this function has not been enabled for your account and you'll need to use another method in this article.

  3. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Enter your Apple ID password. To reset your admin password, you'll need to enter your Apple ID password. This is the Apple ID that is associated with your Mac user account.

  4. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    4

    Create a new admin password. After entering your Apple ID password, you'll be prompted to create a new admin password. You'll need to enter it twice to create it.

  5. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Use your new password after rebooting. You'll have to reboot your computer after creating a new admin password. Once your computer reboots, enter the new password you created to log in.

  6. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Create a new Keychain. When you log in after using your new password, you'll likely be prompted that your Keychain cannot be accessed. This is because the Keychain is only secured with your original admin password, and cannot be accessed with the new password for security reasons. You'll need to create a new Keychain for your passwords.[3]

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  1. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    1

    Log in with the secondary admin account. You'll need to have a second account with administrator privileges enabled on your computer, and you'll also need to know its admin password.

    • If you're logged in on your account, log off and then select the other admin account.

  2. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    2

    Click the Apple menu and select "System Preferences." This will open the system settings.

  3. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    3

    Select "Users & Groups." All of the users on your computer will be displayed.

  4. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Click the padlock at the bottom of the window. This will allow you to make changes to the Users & Groups settings. You'll be prompted for the admin password for the account you're using again.

  5. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Select your original account. You'll find this listed in the menu on the left. You'll see your account settings appear.

  6. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Click the "Reset Password" button. This will allow you to create a new password for the account.

  7. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Create a new admin password for your original account. You'll need to enter the password twice to confirm it. Click "Change Password" to save it.

  8. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Log out and log in with your original account and new password. You'll be able to log in using the password you just created.

  9. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Create a new Keychain. When you log in with your new password, you'll be prompted to update your Keychain password or create a new one. You won't be able to update the password since you don't know the old one. You'll need to create a new Keychain that you'll using moving forward.[4]

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  1. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    1

    Click the Apple menu and select "System Preferences." This will open your system settings. This method will only work for changing a password when you know the original. If you can't remember your password, use one of the other methods in this article.

  2. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    2

    Select "Users & Groups." This will allow you to change settings for the users on your computer.

  3. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Click the padlock in the lower-left corner and enter your current password. This will allow you to make changes to the settings.

  4. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Select your user account and click "Change Password." A new window will appear for you to change your password in.

  5. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    5

    Enter your old password in the first field. This is the password you are currently using.

  6. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    6

    Create a new password. You'll need to enter it twice to verify it. Click "Change Password" to save it.

  7. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    7

    Add a hint (optional). You can add a hint for your password that can be displayed if you are having trouble logging in. This is recommended so that you don't have to go through the trouble of resetting your password if you ever forget it.

  8. How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

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    Start using your new password immediately. Your password will be applied immediately, and you'll use it whenever you're prompted for your password.

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Add New Question

  • Question

    How do I reset my administrator password if I forgot it?

    How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.

    How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    Computer & Tech Specialist

    Expert Answer

    Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

    If you have a Mac and you need to reset the local password, restart the computer, then hit command+R, which is going to go into internet recovery. Launch the terminal, which will bring up a command prompt, then type "resetpassword" as one word. Then, type your new password into the Reset Password dialogue box that pops up.

  • Question

    My computer prompt is 'bash-3.2# '. When I type in the launchctl and systems/Library etc. command, it says either "not recognized" or "access denied". Do you know why ?

    How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    Did you forget the "load" command? Be sure to type it all in correctly as shown above!

  • Question

    Will these steps work on a Macbook Air?

    How do I change the date and time on my Mac without administrator password?

    Liza Gaylord

    Community Answer

    Yes, Macbook Airs have the same operating system (OSX) as other Macbooks. This should work for all Apple computers.

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  • Writing your password down somewhere discreet (e.g., the inside cover of a favorite book) will prevent accidental lock-outs.

  • If you have FileVault enabled, you won't be able to unlock the "reset password" utility without the verification code and password issued to you when you initially set up FileVault. Absent this information, your files will be unrecoverable.

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About This Article

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,302,342 times.

Is this article up to date?

How do I change the time on my Mac without admin rights?

On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then click Date & Time on the right. (You may need to scroll down.)

How to change date and time without administrator password?

Without admin rights you can't make any changes in o.s. (date or time)..
Through the BIOS you can make changes in to the system date and time, if BIOS is not protected by password..
Just restart your PC and enter into the BIOS go to the Date and Time and make changes..

How to change admin password on Mac without knowing the old one?

Option 1: Restart and show password options.
If you see the option to restart and show password reset options, click it to restart your Mac. ... .
Select a user that you want to reset the password for, then click Next..
Enter your new password information, then click Next..
When the password reset is completed, click Restart..

What do I do if I don't know my administrator password Mac?

Use the Reset Password assistant.
From the Utilities menu in the menu bar, choose Terminal..
In the Terminal window, type resetpassword , then press Return to open the Reset Password assistant..
If you're asked to select an admin user you know the password for, click “Forgot all passwords?”..