How can I log into a MacBook when I tried a few times and now the account is locked?

Question

This is a MacBook Pro M1 with Monterey. The issue is: I cannot even power it down properly.

1. Can I still retry log in (typing in the password)
2. Or, somehow shut it down gracefully

It doesn't show any log in input fields any more, and there is no Shut Down icon. Only a Cancel button which will cause the computer to nap right away.

The details are:

This happens ONLY when I left the MacBook Pro there, and it ran out of power and therefore hibernated, and then I charge it up to 100% and try to log in. In such case it seems it cannot recognize my password. See the P.S. below about other people having similar issues.

I might have missed one character or two (capitial letter, symbol, etc) and after a perhaps 8 or 10 times, it now says, "Your Account is locked" on the log in screen.

There is only a "Cancel" button to put the computer to nap right away.

So I cannot log in, try again, or gracefully shut down the computer.

I do not want to press the power button for 10 seconds or press the Shift-Ctrl-Opt-CMD Power button to force it to power down, as that would hurt the OS and the hard drive. Imagine the OS writing something to the hard drive and you force it down.

Also

1. moving the mouse to the top screen edge doesn't bring out the macOS task bar.
2. right click on the desktop background does not do anything

How can I proceed? I do have another MacBook Air M1 and iPad and iPhone if they can help. I also can use my iTunes / iCloud password to somehow reset my MacBook... I think Apple goofed at the UI design because they is no graceful way out when a user happens to forget the password.

P.S. It looks like other people are having the same issue. The second post is even about the "cache" being wrong, what a mess: Big Sur - Logging in after sleep sometimes doesn't work and Macbook Pro stuck after I enter my password

Answer 1

Do not try to brute force a password on Apple Silicon Macs. You get ten failed attempts total with long delays to ensure you don’t do this unintentionally.

You will not harm the system holding the power off button if it was off and then you started it up as the OS isn’t running. Even if the OS is running, the chance of damage is very small when the screen is locked, so power down the Mac. Find another computer to read the process, make a beverage and snack and be careful if you’re already at 7 failed attempts (15 minute delay territory).

After 3 to 5 failed attempts I recommend people stop and use another unlock method. Apple has a very clear process for you (and others who will surely get locked out at some point) in this next link on how to reset the password.

• https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202860

If the 10 attempts are exhausted, 10 more attempts are available after booting into recoveryOS. And if those are also exhausted, then 10 additional attempts are available for each FileVault recovery mechanism (iCloud recovery, FileVault recovery key, and institutional key), for a maximum of 30 additional attempts. After those additional attempts are exhausted, the Secure Enclave no longer processes any requests to decrypt the volume or verify the password, and the data on the drive becomes unrecoverable.

• https://support.apple.com/guide/security/passcodes-and-passwords-sec20230a10d/web

If you have a backup, erase the Mac and restore from backup if you can’t get it unlocked with help from us or Apple support or the first link above.

Answer 2

It turned out that it may be better to use my iCloud account to reset my password.

By the way, I am not sure if there was any loophole on the Mac with Monterey and some hacker changed my password, because I was quite sure about the possible password combinations and I tried them all, and it still could not log me in. That actually happened to both my MacBook Pro 16 M1 and my MacBook Pro 14 M1.

So follow this link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212190

and it will guide you to reset your Mac password using your iCloud password.

(Basically, if it is Intel Mac, restart the Mac, and press and hold CMD-r to go into recovery mode, or if M1 Mac, then start up the Mac, and press and hold the power button. Once you are in Recovery mode, open Terminal and run resetpassword.)

Answer 3

You can use Terminal to reset the password, here's how:

For Silicon-based Macs:

Step 1. Shut down the system.

Step 2. Press the power button and hold it.

Step 3. Choose Options.

Step 4. Click on Continue.

For Intel-based Macs:

Step 1. Shut down the system.

Step 2. Press the power button, command, and R keys and hold them.

Step 3. Wait for the loading bar.

After you have entered the Recovery Mode, you must follow these steps :

Step 1. Choose Utilities and select Terminal from the top menu to launch Mac Terminal.

Step 3. Type "resetpassword" and hit Return. It will open the Reset Password assistant.

Step 4. Hit Return. It will open the Reset Password assistant.

Step 5. When doing so, you will be prompted for the admin password for your Mac. It is usually the password you use to enter into Mac, not the Apple ID password.

Step 6. Select Exit after the process is done and restart the system.

If your Mac Terminal cannot work as normal, you can try to factory reset it.

Here are a few more solutions I've found for the same