These days, many of us rely on laptops for a wide range of activities, from working to streaming to storing essential files. So if you’ve lost the password to your laptop, you’re probably feeling pretty frustrated. But what can you do to retrieve or change your password and regain access?
If you’ve lost the password to a Mac laptop, you can use your recovery key (if you have one) to reset the password. Alternatively, you can access your Apple ID from another device and reset the password. If you’re on a Windows device, you can use your Microsoft account or SafeMode to recover access.
Knowing the next steps to take to recover your laptop password can help you save time, energy, and money. Let’s look at some of the best ways to reset your password as well as what to do if all options fail.
How to Reset Your Password With Windows
When it comes to being locked out of a laptop computer that runs a Windows operating system, there are many ways to reset it. While some of these methods are simple and take no time at all, others are a bit more complicated.
Let’s go through each so that you can figure out which one’s best for you.
Password Reset Through a Microsoft Account
If your computer is running Windows 8 or above, you may be able to reset the password and unlock your laptop pretty easily. With more recent versions of Windows, Microsoft made it possible to link your account specifically to your laptop to keep you from getting locked out.
All you have to do to get back into your laptop is to follow these steps:
- Login into your Microsoft account from another device.
- Click on the option “Forgot my password.”
- Enter your information and click “Next.”
- Select where you want to retrieve the security code.
- Enter the code and click “Next.”
- Enter a new password.
Password Reset Through the Local Account
If your computer has an older version of Windows, you may be able to reset your laptop password through the laptop itself. This, of course, depends on how you set up your computer when you first purchased it.
Follow these steps to attempt to reset your password through your local laptop account:
- Enter a password, even if it’s incorrect.
- Click on the “Reset password” link.
- Answer the security questions that show up — if you set them up previously — in order to retrieve your password.
Password Reset Through SafeMode
If your laptop computer is running Windows 7 or earlier, you may be able to reset your password through the administrator account in SafeMode. Doing this will depend on whether the account is still active and hasn’t been deactivated by default.
Here are the steps you can follow to attempt to reset your password through SafeMode:
- Restart your computer and press the F8 key several times.
- Select “SafeMode.”
- Type in “Administrator” when prompted.
- Navigate to “User Accounts.“
- Choose the correct account.
- Change the password.
Password Reset Through Windows Install Disk
If none of the above suggestions have been successful in helping you unlock your laptop computer, you may need to try to track down a Windows Install Disk. Using this disk may be the only way to reset your password, as long as you have the storage space to handle it.
Follow the instructions to use a Windows Install Disk:
- Enter the Install Disk and start up your laptop.
- Press any key to get the disk started.
- Under the recovery tools option, select “Repair your computer.”
- Follow a set of instructions in the command prompt including the location.
- Restart your computer and navigate to the “Ease of Access” button.
- Reset your password at the command prompt.
How to Reset Your Password With macOS
For those who have a laptop that runs on a macOS operating system, there are several options that you can use to reset your password. Keep in mind that these options are only available once you’ve attempted to enter your password three times on the login screen.
Password Reset by Showing Password Options
One method you can use to attempt to reset your password on your Mac laptop is to use the option to restart and show your password. This typically shows up after you’ve tried to enter your password several times.
To use this option, follow these steps:
- Restart your computer, then either enter your Apple ID (and any verification codes requested) or your FileVault recovery key. This key is a long string of letter and numbers that you would have received if you activated the FileVault feature.
- Choose the user whose password you want to reset.
- Enter your new password and press “Next.”
- Restart your computer. (if you’re unsure of how to shut off your laptop, click here)
Password Reset Using Your Apple ID
If the above steps don’t work to reset your laptop password, you can try this option. Of course, you will need to have access to your Apple ID for this method to work.
Here are the steps you need to follow to reset your password:
- Restart your laptop.
- If the AppleID prompt comes up, enter the credentials and then click “Reset Password.”
- Follow the instructions on the screen if it asks you to create a new keychain, and then restart your laptop.
- You may be prompted to deactivate your Mac. Do so and then enter your password information.
- Change your password
Password Reset Using Your Recovery Key
The last option you can use to reset your password on your Mac is to use the recovery key from your computer.
Follow these steps to reset your password using your recovery key:
- Choose to reset the password with the recovery key.
- Type in your FileVault recovery key and click “Next.”
- Follow the prompts to create a new password.
What to Do if You Can’t Reset Your Password
In some cases, you may find that none of the above options are helpful for unlocking your laptop. If this is the case for you, you’ll need to try other more drastic measures to reset your password.
Factory Reset Your Laptop
If you’ve had no success with other options, you can do a factory reset of your laptop. Keep in mind that using this method should only be done in emergency cases.
It’s important to note that if you do a factory reset to your laptop, you will likely lose many of the settings that you implemented since you got your computer as well as data that isn’t backed up. Because of this, you should only use this method as a last resort.
Call a Professional
Before you choose to factory reset your computer, you may want to contact a technical support professional to see if there’s anything they can do to help you reset your password. They may be aware of options that you haven’t tried.