Reset Mac OS X Password

If you have lost your password on Mac, here are a simple list on how to reset your password:

Mac OS X 10.7 - Lion

  1. Boot into single user mode (press Command-S at power on)
  2. Type fsck -fy
  3. Type mount -uw /
  4. Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.opendirectoryd.plist
  5. Type ls /Users
  6. Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password, replacing username with the targeted user and password with the desired password.
  7. Reboot


Mac OS X 10.6 - Snow Leopard

  1. Boot into single user mode (press Command-S at power on)
  2. Type fsck -fy
  3. Type mount -uw /
  4. Type sh /etc/rc
  5. Type ls /Users
  6. Type passwd username
  7. Reboot



Mac OS X 10.5 - Leopard

  1. Boot into single user mode (press Command-S at power on)
  2. Type fsck -fy
  3. Type mount -uw /
  4. Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plist
  5. Type ls /Users
  6. Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username
  7. Reboot


Mac OS X 10.4 - Tiger


  1. Boot into single user mode (press Command-S at power on)
  2. Type fsck -fy
  3. Type mount -uw /
  4. Type sh /etc/rc
  5. Type ls /Users
  6. Type passwd username
  7. Reboot



Last Resort! WARNING! You may lose settings with this one!

  1. Boot into single user mode (press Command-S at power on)
  2. Type fsck -fy
  3. Type mount -uw /
  4. Type rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
  5. Reboot


There it is. Quick and ugly. If there's any question, please, feel free to comment.