How To Create A New Administrator Account
This method tricks the computer into thinking the computer it’s brand new and leads you through the setup again to create a new administrator account.
This guide should take only about five or ten minutes, but there is some music and you have to boot into single-user mode, so if your in a public place with inquisitive people bring headphones and try to be subtle.
If you want to recover the password of any current user on the target computer in cleartext (that means actually viewing the user’s password instead of just resetting it), check out our other guide on cracking Mac OS X passwords.
Requirements
- Wireless network password (not a must, but helpful if you want internet on a secured network right away)
- Headphones (if you’re in a public place and don’t want people giving you weird looks)
We suggest not attempting this procedure on machines running 10.4.x due to crash reports.
Procedure
1. Boot into Single-User Mode
Turn on the computer and when you hear the startup chime hold CMD+S. This boots the computer into single-user mode, giving you root access. It is important to note that this can be blocked by a firmware password. If that’s the case, head on over to our other guide on how to get into single-user mode while locked.
2. Mount the Hard Drive
Once single-user mode loads (it looks like a black screen with white text) we need to mount the hard drive. So at the prompt type in:
/sbin/mount -uw /
3. Remove the “Setup has been completed” File
Now that the drive is mounted we can edit the file system. We need to delete a file that tells your computer that you have completed setup. So type in:
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
This deletes the file “.applesetupdone” in the /var/db/ directory, which the computer checks for on startup to ensure that the computer has been set up.
4. Reboot
Pretty self explanatory. We need the system to reboot so it can check for the file and not find it. Type in:
reboot
5. Watch the Video
Your computer will shut down and reboot. A setup window should pop up asking what language you want your computer to be in. Just like it would when you turn on your computer for the first time. After you select a language, a welcome video plays. This is when you need your headphones, unless there is nobody around, in which case you can enjoy the little music.
6. Continue Setup
Go through the rest of the setup process.
Be sure to select “DO NOT TRANSFER MY DATA”.
Don’t worry, all of your old files will still be on the computer.
At one point during setup you will have to configure your internet connection, this is when you need your wireless password. It’s fine if you don’t have the password, you can enter it later if you need to.
7. Set up the Administrator Account
Near the end of the setup you will be asked to create an administrator account for your computer.
Be sure to make the name of the admin account different from the existing one.
You can name the account anything that you want, except for the name of the old administrator account. If the new account is given the same name as the old one it will overwrite the old account, causing all the account’s files to be deleted. That is not optimal.
8. Finish Setup and Log In
Wrap up the setup and the computer should automatically log you into your new administrator account.
Some important notes:
- This administrator account is exactly like any other account.
- It is not hidden in any way, and it does not have any special privileges.
- With this account you will be able to change the password on the old administrator account, and access the files of any account stored locally on the computer.
If you want to recover the password of any current user on the computer in cleartext, follow our other guide on cracking Mac passwords.
The contents of this guide are for educational use only. For more information, see our Disclaimer.
eto..this doesn’t work…… /sbin/mount -uw/ rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone it tells me there’s no such thing as rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone i tried it without the rm and then it jus said permission denied….so just curious…..does this work on all macs cause i’m using a mac os x but it’s like a really old one cause it hasn’t been updated since 2004…so it’s only updated to 10.3.8? is there anything else i can do cause i’ve tried many things and stuff and nothing works cause it all usually ends up telling me file does not exist or permission denied…
I had the same problem at first, when u put in rm /var/db/.applesetupdone their is no space between the / after db and the .applesetupdone that got me at first.. also try no caps in applesetupdone? it worked perfectly for me
Dude, you have to make sure you put a space between “-uw” and the “/”
So it looks like this:
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
reboot
Alternately you could reset an admins password by doing this:
login to single/root user mode via command s A.K.A apple S and type this:
mount -uw /
ls /Users
(at this point find an admin and remember his exact name)
type: passwd (admin account name)
type password (it won’t show up on screen) and retype
reboot and login to the account.
What you have to do is!!!
Follow exactly.
mount -uw /
Press enter and then.
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
Press enter again then type
shutdown -h now
Follow those steps exactly and then it will work.
Just followed these directions and they worked perfectly! Thank you!!!
I had 3 accounts setup on my iMac. Mine as the admin, and one for each of my daughters that were parental controls. Mine and one of my daughters disappeared. I could not do anything, not even get to system prefs. I followed these directions and I am back up and running.
Thanks!
how do i get my old files? I clicked the “dont transfer data”.. So how do i get them on the new account?
Don’t worry, they’ll still be there as long as you created the new account with a different name than the old account.
When you’ve created the new account and have selected “Don’t transfer data”, you can then log into the new account, then you can either change the password to your old account so you can log back in (It’s in System Preferences, under the Accounts preference pane), or, you can just open up the “Users” folder in Finder and open up your Desktop, Documents, or any folders with files in them from your old account and use them from there or transfer them over to the new account.
Let me know if you have any more problems!
Im a little confused. After these steps have been performed, can you delete the old admin account? Whats the difference in using systems preferences to just create a new admin account?
I am having various spinning globe issues, seemingly around the admin account and network access. I would like a new admin account, and be able to “adopt” all of old documents and files! I believe my issues are in the system and since I cannot do an archive and install, this may work!
Well, this guide is more intended for creating an administrator account when administrative access to System Preferences has been lost or is not available.
If you have all of your documents and files contained in a few folders, you can just create a new account in System Preferences and manually drag all of your files over.
does this delete the old account?
Nope, just as long as you name the new account you set up something different than the existing one. Check out my response to @Macland for some examples on how to avoid this.
Can your other accounts get deleted?
Like I said, you’re fine as long as you name the new account you set up something different than the existing one. Check out my response to @Macland for some examples.
Does this delete the other accounts?
Like those standard ones or even all the files like music and movies etc ?
Nope, just as long as you name the account something different than the existing one.
So, say the name of a current account was jbrowning, if, when going through the setup again, I also named the account jbrowning, then YES, IT WOULD OVERWRITE THE OLD JBROWNING ACCOUNT. But again, as long as you name it anything else besides the current username (for example, you could name it: asdfasdfkjasdf, or esavage, just as long as it’s not the current name)
So it wouldn’t even affect any of the other standard users…. just if I remeber to rename it different…
does this work on windows 7
Nope, sorry. Mac OS X only.
Ok, so I have a question. I am planning to do this, but I am a little bit worried. I am on a network and the current account I am using is on a network account, with a network administrator. Since This is done locally, will the network administrator be able to SEE or control the local administrator account? If so is there any way to avoid this?
Ideally, I would also like to just view my root user password and just log into that. I don’t want to change any password or create any accounts. I just want to simply change a few files that currently are blocked, nothing bad though. Truly, I just want to install a custom Itunes skin, but the Network Admin doesn’t allow me to. Can I just view the root password in single user mode without decoding any hashes? That would be Ideal
You can’t view the password without cracking it, but you can change the root password from within SUM.
Check out this article and scroll down to “Additional Information” and see if the commands there can help you.
i tried it and it worked..but the problem is i cannot create new account anymore..it says “Sorry an unexpected error has occured (unable to add standard user)” Please help!
Where are you getting this error? In system preferences? Or the system setup?
I had the same exact problem. It happens on the system setup and after the error it kicks you back to the start of the setup. What should I do? Running tiger.
Are you running the latest version of Tiger, 10.4.11?
Be sure to see our warning in the document about running it on 10.4.11 due to crash reports and startup problems. Gotta read those warnings!
I have deleted the .AppleSetupdone file and rebooted successfully BUT the new account that is created is a Standard account and not an Admin account.
I have attempted this because my original admin account was deleted and I need another one to install updates, etc. I have been using the root account to perform various tasks, such as delete the /var/log/asl log files that get big fast When I try to create an admin account via the root account, the account is a Standard account even though I enable admin privileges. All this occurs on 10.5.8 on a MacBook.
Any clue as to what I should do?
Kevin
Kevin — We actually wrote an article on this sort of thing. Give it a try and let me know how it goes:
http://www.hackmac.org/hacks/from-standard-to-administrator/
Tried this and now my computer won’t even reboot
and it doesn’t recognize rm / vr/ db/.applesetupdone
Hi Brandy, could you be more specific about your problem? What did you do that made your computer not reboot? Did you enter Single User Mode?
For the command, you need to keep in mind that all of the letters and spaces are extremely important. Instead of what you typed above, try this:
rm /var/db/.applesetupdoneAlso, did you remember to mount the hard drive using the command listed in the tutorial? It’d be good to print out the instructions before attempting this, or at least have them available on another computer.
I tried this on OSX 10.4.11 and I’m having a problem with it. After reboot I select my language, then immediately following that the computer freezes while the computer is “starting Mac OS X…). Any advice?
It turns out that we may be having some issues in 10.4.11, as a few people have mentioned it. For now, I’ll add to the article that 10.4.11 is not recommended while we investigate further.
Assuming there’s no way to undo this myself, should I take the computer into an apple store or to some tech service? Also, is there still a way for me to get to the files on my computer?
If you’ve got another Mac, you can target boot to recover any files (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661). If you bring your Mac in, that’s likely what Apple is going to do to recover your data (or use some other data recovery tool). Target booting will mount your Mac’s hard drive to the other computer, and you can duplicate it or take files off it just like an external hard drive.
The Apple Store may be your best bet with this one, though it really shouldn’t be happening. If they figure out what’s wrong, PLEASE let us know.
hi im trying to get my account to be an administrator i have done this before on my macbook os x but we just got the big home computer (which is a mac os x) and i tried this several times and it doesnt work for me. it says something about illegal use or something. this is what i typed in.
Sbin/mount -uw/
rm/var/db/.applesetupdone
shutdown -hnow
and once i type in shutdown -hnow it comes up with something saying that using that is illegal or something!!! so i dont know what to do at this point.
HELP!!!
That’s because you’re entering an illegally phrased command, try phrasing it like this: “shutdown -h now” (without quotes). If that still doesn’t work, just type in “reboot” (again, without quotes) and hit return.
Let me know if that doesn’t do the trick!
I tried this method and my computer will not reboot, it freezes at some point after I select my language. Is this method suitable for OSX 10.4.11?
David – I just replied to James a bit above, but 10.4.11 might be a no-go. I’ll add a notice to the article while we investigate.
This is a question that I’m not sure if there is a solution to, but my son has been using this exact method to bypass the parental controls on the computer. He abuses his use of the computer heavily to farm gold in MMOs all hours of the night, and when I set up his account to prevent this he just uses this exact hack to get back in every single time. Is there a way to prevent him from doing this? If there isn’t then the only thing I know of to do is move the computer and/or take away the power cable every night. I would really appreciate the help. Thanks!
Yep, this method can be blocked by creating a firmware password. The firmware password would prevent the computer from booting into Single-User Mode without it (something that is crucial to this guide). We have a guide for circumventing that too, but that involves actually opening up the computer, which I sincerely hope he wouldn’t do.
For the firmware password, I’m going to direct you an Apple Support article: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1352
It’s a pretty in-depth explanation and you’ll be able to follow the instructions for your computer.
Something you might also want to check is if he changed the root password or not. If he changed the root password and you block Single-User Mode, he can still get in (and it doesn’t show up as an account!).
What I’d do, is boot up into Single-User Mode (Hold down the Command key and the S key at the same time when the screen turns gray, before the Apple logo appears), and wait for the screen to turn black and white text to come down.
When everything stops, enter this command:
passwdIt will then prompt you for a password, which you enter twice (it won’t look like you’re typing, but trust me, the computer’s getting it), and the root password will be reset. Simply type:
rebootand the computer will restart and boot up normally, after which you can create a firmware password via the article above.
Hi, I did the above steps on my Mac and it will let me go through all the processes of setting up the mac, however upon creating an account it does not automatically log in rather it goes back to choose a language. Any ideas on how to resolve this issue would be appreciated, at the moment I am unable to log into my mac at all. Thanks
Ashley, any chance you’re running OS X 10.4.11?
Yeah, i have the same problem. I just bought a mac off of Ebay. with Mac Os x snow leopard installed. But when ever i set up my account it doesn’t direct me to the desktop. it just sends me back to the login page and my account no where to be found. Only an account that is called “other”.
Just found out i am on 10.5.1
Try selecting “Other” and entering in the username and password you created into the boxes that show up.
If for some reason that doesn’t work, check out this post (http://www.hackmac.org/hacks/from-standard-to-administrator/), and follow the second half (resetting the root password). After doing that, select “Other” again and enter the username: “root” (without quotes) and whatever you set the password as. Don’t use that root account for normal things though, just use System Preferences to set up an administrator account for normal use and disable the root if you wish.
Hey, it’s asking if I should override the root/wheel or something, and I press enter, and it returns to the command prompt line and when I enter “ls” it’s still there within folder db, I think there is a permission error or syntax I am unaware of to say “yes” to overriding it.
What am I doing wrong? (Or what should I do?)
Oh, after I enter yes, it says:
rm: /var/db/.AppleSetupDone: Read-only file system
This is weird, I should have root level access, so I tried adding a “sudo” in front, and that’s not working either.
What nao? D:
Just kidding for got to add a space between mount “-uw” and “/”.
Should probably add that in as a note, how silly of me to forget to provide a valid mount point.
Sorry for all the trouble heh.
No problem Jason, sorry I didn’t check recent comments until today, so I didn’t have a chance to reply.
Glad you got it figured out!
I plan to follow these steps but do not want any obvious sign that an additional account has been created. At the very least, I want to be sure it doesn’t show up as a login option upon bootup of the machine or, ideally, I’d like to delete the account when I’m done. I’d be doing this without knowledge of any other account passwords on the machine. For education purposes only, obviously. Thanks!
Aaron, just search our site! You’re probably looking at something along the lines of using the “root” account, which can be found in the lower half of this article:
http://www.hackmac.org/hacks/from-standard-to-administrator/
Another way is to just snag the password of an existing administrator account and just use that. We detail that here:
http://www.hackmac.org/hacks/decrypt-os-x-user-account-passwords/
Let me know if this is what you’re looking for.
Everything worked until the setting the account up.
When i was done setting up the account, it takes forever(still loading) to get to teh log in screen.
Did i do something wrong or is this a exclusive problem ?
Try rebooting your computer (or unplugging and replugging).
What version of the OS are you running? Did you follow all of the directions exactly? If it’s still hanging, it shouldn’t be.
Hi, I would like to say thank you for posting this article however I have one minor problem. I tried to get into single mode. I couldn’t not type the letter S. Any letters works just fine but S. Do you know why? Thanks
-Antonio
Hey Antonio – I assume you mean Single-User Mode? Can you type S when you boot up normally? I’m wondering if there may be something wrong with your keyboard, but if not, that’s VERY odd.
Hi – I am not computer savvy.. bought macbook off craigslist – great except I didn’t have the administrative password. Looked online and found a way to reset it – it worked although it’s a little different than your instructions.
Problem is that I selected ‘do not transfer my data’ as you recommended… but now all that was on my previous desktop is locked and I cannot access it… how do I access this?
Let me know what further information you need from me to help me with this dilemma – Thanks a million
-B
Berry, you should be able to go to the locked folder, right click it, and select “Get Info”
At the bottom of the window that pops up, you should see something called “Sharing & Permissions” — expand this if it’s not already expanded.
You’ll then see a little lock in the bottom right-hand corner. Click that and enter in your administrator username and password. Then you can click the arrow in the bottom left-hand corner, select your new admin account from that list, and change the “Privilege” to Read & Write. You should then be able to open that folder and view it’s contents. You may need to do this for multiple folders, but it’ll get you your files!
WOW!!!
That’s really great, it worked… Thank you!
But now the problem (which I can live with) is that when I open a word document and change anything – when I hit save it says “this file is read-only. To save a copy hit OK and give the file a new name in the save dialog box”
When I hit OK and it sends me to the naming place and I change the name – but save is not highlighted…
There is an append file extension box that is checked – and a the options, compatibility report and cancel are options, but not save…
Is there an easy way that I don’t have to rename and resave all my documents – if I can even resave them?
One more question I have is that are things like I itunes from the old desktop just no longer available? They didn’t seem to make the leap..
Thanks – this is really an amazingly helpful service you offer!
– Berry
When I reboot and hold cmd+S, nothing happens. I’ve tried many different timings with the keys, but nothing has changed. Is there something different with my mac?
Do you happen to know if you have a Firmware password set on your Mac? That would prevent you from accessing Single User Mode.
Hi, I’ve just completed these steps and it seems to looks as if it is reinstalling the OS as it has been around 3 hours with the apple and spinning circle. is this right
Definitely doesn’t sound right…
What OS are you on?
Hello! I need some help ASAP!
so i went through all the procedures….opened up with CMD+S
but then i will write word for word of what it gives me with each command…to which im assuming is not correct.
i write:
/sbin/mount -uw/
then it gives me the following:
/sbin/mount: illegal option–/
usage: mount [-dfruvw][-o options][-t ufs |external_type] special node
mount [-adfruvw][-t ufs | external_type]
mount [-dfruvw] special | node
considering it said that sbin/mount was an illegal option i assumed it probably wasnt correct, but i continued on with the next step:
i type:
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
it gives me:
override -w—-r– root/wheel for /var/db/.applesetupdone?
then when i type reboot for the next step it puts it up nest to the older response like so:
override -w—-r– root/wheel for /var/db/.applesetupdone?reboot
so then i just type reboot again and there is no change to my computer…..what am i doing wrong?
thank you
Check your spacing! It should be:
/sbin/mount -uw /The space in between the -uw and the / is very important. Let me know if that fixes the problem.
Ok so I’m fine with everything else but I have to hand my computer in at the end of the year so what do I do?
Delete the account?
ok i reset the password for single user mode by using terminal and entering the command
sudo -i file root chad
by doing this i was trying to set chad as the key for starting in single user mode but it wont work. i’ve entered chad as the key more than four times in a row before but it keeps asking me for the key. is there anyway i can get around this without changing the amount of RAM on my macbook.
I don’t know why you’re using that command… the “firmware” password is different than the root password, and it means SUM is locked out. If the firmware password is enabled, essentially you’re only option is the RAM trick.
Hi Jeff,
I’m afraid i’m stuck at step 1. When I press command and S there is no reaction, the screen simply stays black until i stop pressing them and then it turns on as normal.
Does it matter which ‘cmd’ I press? or should it be a capslock ‘S’?
How is usually required to hold them down before it open in single user mode?
I really appreciate any help.
Bell.
Bell – Make sure you hold it down when the screen is gray (NOT black!), and before the Apple logo appears.
Hi, I followed all of these steps and got onto my new administrator account but i cannot find my old one anywhere to access all of my old files…i used a different name, Pedley Tom instead of Tom Pedley but all of my original files are still on my Hard-disk as the space they occupied s still taken and i have only 16gb of free space. I’m running Mac OS X 10.6.7… I a bit worried and clueless!
Tom – It should be in your HD -> Users -> Tom Pedley folder. You shouldn’t have a problem copying the files over to your new account.
Whenever I put in the information ( rm / var/ etc.) it says something along the lines of, would you like to wheel the rm /var etc. I don’t know what to put in there, yes, no or what. I can get to almost the final stage but it won’t finish. Any help is appreciated, thank you.
same problem as James above me, I put in right, it just won’t work…
Not sure which James you’re referring to… there are quite a few who have commented.
Jake – I’m not sure what you mean… I’ve never heard of an error referencing a “wheel”, and the two times you typed the command in your comment you typed it differently, which doesn’t give me much faith that you typed it in correctly. What OS are you running?
I tried it until the last set up where you’re gonna put your password but after clicking “CONTINUE” the welcome video started again and still shows the same. I fill in on the boxes, but it restart again and again. I tried it many times but still the same. I need to create a new account so I could retrieve the password of my old account. please help me. What should I do. thanks in advance.
Do you want to RETRIEVE the password, or RESET/CHANGE the password?
Password retrieval is a more difficult process (check out our ‘Decrypting Mac OS X Passwords’ article), whereas resetting is far easier.
For resetting, you can simply pop in your Mac OS X install DVD and reset the password that way.
I don’t have the disk to retrieve. I still know my password, the problem is my username, I can’t login in Alphabet because my username is in Japanese characters, now I can’t go back to the login screen. every time I open my Mac it automatically shows the Welcome Video. after answering the setup it restarts to the beginning of welcome video. I don’t know how to revert it and go back to original Login screen. could you please help me. thanks.
I have the same issue. My mac is asking me for my username, that I have but my username is in Japanese.
How did you enter your user name in Hiragan?
I am just about to do this but i’m kind of worried, if i do this i will have to overwrite my current account if not the real admin will see ive got too accounts and i will be screwed, can this harm the computer in anyway? If i fail to manage to do it the first time then i try a second time will it mess up the laptop? Will the admin get a notification saying that someone created a new account? And if it messes up is there anyway i can restore my previous acccount?
Thank you,
Oscar
If you create the admin account under the same name as your current account, it WILL BE OVERWRITTEN, meaning that you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RESTORE YOUR PREVIOUS ACCOUNT. I would rather just create a new user account that’s completely different from your current account so that there’s no suspicion, and you should be fine as long as you’re not running the latest version of Tiger — people have reported some issues with that.
HI there,
Have tried numerous methods to resetting admin passwd and am having the following problem:
After entering SUM I type:
/sbin/mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone.
shutdown -h now
and the MAC shuts down.
When I reboot, the MAC brings up the old login screen instead of going through the welcome stage.
I have also tried changing the admin password via SUM and that works until i shutdown the MAC because when I turn it back on, the new login details dont work and I’m back to square 1 again.
What can I do to make sure the changes I make are permanent and I dont hae to enter SUM to change the Admin passwd every time I turn on my MAC?
Hmm, I’ve never encountered this situation before — this would be a great question to ask in our “Content Support” thread on our forums. We’ve got a lot of knowledgeable guys over there who might be able to shed some light on the subject.
I now have my grandfather’s imac (10.4.7). He passed away. I was given his pass word, but it didn’t work. While following recipes such as the one here, I may have made it worse!
Most recently, I have followed the above code while in the single user mode. After rebooting and watching the video, my machine gets hung up. After the screen in which I choose student use, business, etc. I get a screen that has a simple horizontal line, and a highlighted “go back” button. There is a “continue” button as well, but it is shaded.
After waiting some time, I gave up and rebooted using the install start-up disk. When looking to change pass words in this fashion, it says the the HD has no users.
I could use the disk to wipe the HD, and do a new install. But I would lose all of the family photos my grandfather may have stored on it.
Thoughts? Thanks in advance!
Sorry to hear about your grandfather, I wish you and your family the best.
I’m also sorry if our warning wasn’t clear enough “We suggest not attempting this procedure on machines running 10.4.x due to crash reports” — some people have been experiencing similar problems on updated Tiger machines.
This may be a bit of a long shot, but we can try to put back the .AppleSetupDone file. Try entering the following commands in Single-User Mode:
mount -uaw /cd /var/db
echo '' > .AppleSetupDone
echo '' >> .AppleSetupDone
echo '' >> .AppleSetupDone
echo '' >> .AppleSetupDone
echo '' >> .AppleSetupDone
If that doesn’t work, head over to our forum (http://www.hackmac.org/forum). We’ve got some people over there who might be able to help.
Good luck!
Beautiful! Thanks so much. I was able to recover my lost Admin account on my mac.
I have my password working but my problem is that I don’t have administrator account, I have 2 accounts and any of them is administrator, so I can’t get updates of any program… that happens just like that that method would be work for me? I can loose my old files ? Please Help me I will appreciate so much.
I recommend that you check out our guide, From Standard to Administrator (http://www.hackmac.org/hacks/from-standard-to-administrator/), if you want to keep the same account and not change any of your files.
Whenever I attempt to remove the applesetupdone file in single user mode,
I receive an error that says that the appplesetupdone file is not there, what it going on?
Are you sure that you’re trying to remove the .AppleSetupDone file? It MUST have the . (period) before the filename, as it’s a hidden file. Also, be sure that you have navigated into the correct directory.
I followed the steps above, but when it gets to the part where I tell it do not transfer files at this time, it freezes up, and the spinning wheel comes up. The reason why I’m doing this is because I accidentally deleted some stuff on my prior account, and when I shut it down, then restarted it, it wouldn’t load the login screen. Help?
Thomas, what did you delete? Hopefully not any crucial system files… Also, what version of the OS are you running?
!!PLZ HELP ME!! I did this exactly as stated and it worked! but then my mac starting starting up Very slowly! it has a Long blue screen before login window! What should I do!?
Are you running OS X Tiger?
no i’m at 10.6.7
Dear Jeff,
I’m using a administrator account and user account for myself and a guest account. (so in the login screen three login accounts).
Today I discovered that the administrator account was not there anymore. I needed to put the username and password of the administrator for installing an update of TotalFinder. That didn’t work.
I searched and found this article. Before doing the things in this article I tried to backup from the TimeCapsule; that didn’t work because putting the installation disk in and rebooting requires administrator name and password.
So I followed the instructions: made a new account JILDERT2 and copied the very few files I had on my old JILDERT account; OK very good. The new account is administrator.
I’m wondering how this could happen. Maybe it has to do with running the battery flat. Two days ago my wife had a visit and she removed the powerconnection while he MacBook Pro had an USB-drive connected; when I found it again the next day the battery was flat.
Jeff, thanks a lot for this guide; it worked for me; and please go on with this work, I didn’t know hackmac.org; I’ve made a link in Safari to it.
I’m glad that we were able to help you out!
As for losing an entire administrative account, I have no idea. Was the account completely gone, or did it just no longer have administrative privileges?
Dear Jeff,
The subdirectory JILDERT on Users was still there, but the account JILDERT was missing in the login screen AND during installation of a program the JILDERT account with password was NOT recognised. So in my opinion during start-up of the Mac it failed in using this account. Hope this gives you a clue so you can help the community.
Apart from this: during reading your numerous comments on peoples questions I read about the CMD-S key during start-up. That is a serious back-door wide open where (I believe) > 95%+ of the users is not aware of. In 95%+ of the occasions it is not a problem at all for home usage. But shure you can hack a mac.
best regards, Jildert
Hi,
My friend did this to a new computer, after forgetting the password. It worked as normal until the part where it normally plays the “hello” messages – but when it got to there, instead it went to a grey loading screen. Now whenever it is turned on, no matter what mode – verbose, safe mode, normal, whatever – it just goes to that grey screen. We went through the steps at the apple support site but my friend doesn’t have his disks with him and nothing seems to be working. Any ideas?
So this computer is brand new, and (I’m assuming) not running Mac OS X Tiger?
A big thank you I’ve been trying to get a disk to reset my computer but no avail.
I tried something like this before but didn’t work. Follow it to the letter and it will work for you.
Our pleasure Ron, thanks for reporting back.
Hi thanks for this great article, everything worked perfectly until I get to the
Language selection I choose English but keeps going back to the same
Window , I even tried selecting spanish but same thing happened.
The reason I am doing this root login is because finder keeps crashing on
startup. I cannot get past the “finder quit unexpectedly” window and I only have one
user account.
Here is the advice I am using…http://hintsforums.macworld.com/archive/index.php/t-47781.html
Specifically this posted comment …
“I know this post is 4 years old, but I had the same problem and searched Google entirely to find out how to fix Finder. I FINALLY FOUND THE SOLUTION, so maybe this will work if you have a similar problem. There are many scenarios why your computer can be acting up like this, hopefully this is one of them and can help!
Problem:
Upon boot or start up, Finder – Not responding
Dock items are frozen
Computer freezes up
Cannot use safe mode, computer shuts down after holding shift and no log-in menu posts up.
Solution:
Log-in using another user account (if you only have one, google how to create one without using Finder/System Preferences. it just so happens I had another user account set up before Finder problems arose)
Enable the Root account *be careful, you can do serious damage logging in as root account, so don’t do anything else besides steps below once logged in this is a great link to learn how to enable the Root account http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1528
Restart computer and log-in as Other and type Root as username and enter new password you just made.
Once booted up, go to Finder>MAC HD> Users>____username of crashing Finder _____ > Library > Preferences
Look for the com.apple.finder.plist, drag it to the Desktop/ or other folders, just as long as it is no longer in the Preferences folder.
Log out of Root account and Restart computer **don’t forget this step, you must restart!
Now try logging in as the username of the crashing Finder, and see if you can access Finder now!
Hopefully that works! If you have any problems, or wanna shoutout that it worked, let me know!! I am so glad I didn;t have to re-install/re-format my mac!
What version of MAc OS X are you running?
How do I undo this
You may be able to recreate the file in SUM or Terminal using the ‘touch’ command, but otherwise, the startup process will recreate the file for you, so there’s really nothing to undo (other than simply deleting the new account).
what if my mac already has a admin account on it.
I am worried about doing this. I am getting an iPad2 in the fall and may you please post how to hack it or at least a website for it?
thanks- Me
Then just be sure to name the new admin account differently, so the old one doesn’t get overwritten.
And we already have one! Search “jailbreak” in our search-bar.
Okay so lets say this worked, and i have the new admin. Does this mean that there will be two admins or just one? example: New Admin- shelly
Current Admin- Mitchell
Does doing this procedure mean that there will be two admins?
Yes, it does.
please answer immedietly my dad has COMPLEtely locked me out of everything even terminal i can get into single user mode but when i try to reset the pass word it says like rmm————wheel? or something like that and what disk is it you use to reset btw im on the most current leopard operating system please help with either issue thanks you
btw im gonna be honest with you here, when i mean completely locked out i mean like borderline douche level don’t even know root or SUM password please answer back within a short time limit :/
You would use the operating system disk that came with your computer or you bought when you upgraded (depending on whether or not you upgraded) to reset.
hey, after this, do i have to recreate the apple setup done file? if i do, plz tell me how
Nope, once you complete the setup the file is automatically recreated.
you can just type: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
and not need to go to single user mode
PS: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
is to undo the hack
Well, since you need an administrator/root access to have permissions to delete the file, and the point of the hack is to gain administrative privileges, I don’t really see the usefulness in showing hidden files.
after i did the commands now all i get is the white screen with the apple and the symbol showing you it is busy processing, but it has been like this overnight!!
Would you happen to be running Tiger? Check out our warning in the post.
Hello Jeff, great work, but it doesnt work on my mac. Its the following thing:
Mac OSX 10.6.8
The first is that i have to type in ” /sbin/fsck -fy ” ( without spaces, sure )
next is
” /sbin/mount uw / ”
” rm /var/db/ .applesetupdone ”
after the ” enter ” i get the following message: no such directory applesetupdone, and in another case :
root device is mounted read only
Any suggestions for me ? thank you!
Christian
Sorry, sorry, forget it all. A little space makes it happen….ashes to my head. But !
How can i set the machine to start up with the ” original ” admin pw and NOT with the new account ? So to prevent that the admin is able to see the change ? ( log on with several accounts on the start )
thanks, christian
Christian — head on over to our forums. Josh Fletcher, one of our active community members, has written an application (which is free to download from the thread!) that allows you to temporarily change the password to “toor”, and then reset it to the original when you’re done.
Was able to remove the admin password, but when the macbook reboots, i noticed that my keyboard no longer responds( it makes sound but can not type). what could be the reason and how can i fix it please?
Would you happen to be running OSX 10.4?
THANKS A BUNCH, been using this work around for months and my macs still working great
I just updated to Lion though and wanted to ask if this’ll work on it too before trying.
It should still work. I checked and the files are still there, but I haven’t had time to test it myself yet.
Hello , fine thanks for the help I tried this but then something funny happened. I am lead trough the setup of a new account but when it comes to the page where I put my password in and choose a picture, I can’t continue. I am stuck and I can’t access the computer at all. By the way i am trying this on a 10.3.9.
What to do next?
We have commands listed for Tiger, as well as Leopard and Snow Leopard. Since you’re running Panther, which commands did you enter?
I don’t believe 10.3 is supported.
Hi there,
Thank you for your useful post, however, I have followed the instructions and got to the setup. I set the language as English and pressed continue and now it is just sitting on a page that says:
Welcome
In just a few steps, you can register and setup your mac server.
It has the buffering thing going round and round in the bottom left corner. I can’t click on go back or continue but it is letting me click on ‘help’.
I’m running OS Lion. Any ideas? I’ve tried turning it off and back on again!
Thanks
We’re working on updating our guides for Lion. Seeing as the instructions listed are only for Tiger or Leopard/Snow Leopard, which instructions did you use?
So I see all the warnings and errors for Mac OS X 10.4.11, and of course, that’s the system I’m running.
Is there any alternate method for this version of Tiger that will produce similar results to gaining administrative privileges. I don’t really care how I get there, but my brother made himself the only admin on our Mac and left town for the rest of the summer. He conveniently set things up so that I can’t make any changes to Finder, so I can’t even download an application or upgrade the ones I’m running.
There are several accounts on the Mac, only his is the admin.
I’ve searched the internet for days now to no avail.
Is there any other way to make a new admin account that won’t destroy the computer entirely or lace it with errors? Preferably one that’s been successfully tested on a Tiger 10.4.11.
Help would be very much appreciated.
I’d just create a new root account. Boot into Single-User Mode (hold CMD+S on startup, after the gray screen appears and before the Apple logo appears), mount the hard drive, then type “passwd” — then, enter and confirm your new root password. You can then type “reboot” and log in with the username “root” (you might have to first click “Other…” if you have the login window set to the accounts list), and then the password you just set.
You can then go into System Preferences and make any account modifications you need.
I did come across someone saying that they used
“mount -w /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now”
in replace of the code above, on a Tiger 10.4.11, and they said it worked. I have no idea what these minor code changes affect. So could someone with more knowledge of working in single-user mode tell me if this is safe to try?
I’ve also seen the code with and without the last bit, “shutdown -h now”. What exactly does that do?
Technically, there is no difference the the commands. “shutdown -h now” simply tells the computer to shut down now. You then have to manually press the button for the computer to power up again. By typing “reboot”, you are essentially shutting down the computer and turning it on again, therefore there should be no difference in result.
I would not recommend trying it, just based on the feedback we’ve had from people running 10.4.11, although you are free to try whatever you want. I’d definitely recommend backing up the drive before hand if you were to try it out.
Hello sir…I believe my macbook was hacked so I started looking in the console. Found stuff referring to aqua. Later i saw everything uve shown in your examples like setup complete, but it goes further and references nvdanv50hal loaded and registered. I see applications I’ve never seen before, can not access folders even though I log in as admin. When I “get info” on a folder I’ve seen users defined as wheel and root. It was connected VIA airport at the time and even though its not connected to any line or router right now, I notice everytime I turn it on, certain folders show that “last modified” is exactly when I log in. Also, I think my sessions have been logged as there are folders that I visited yesterday that are not there today. Please tell me how I can find out who did this. Was a copy of my machine with my ip address “ghosted” to someone? I’m scared because I don’t want to be set up. Messages say I’m a server, and ical was installed, but the last time modified date changed from the original time (i was online when I saw the shared POP up) to a date a few years ago, and I even saw a file that had a last modified date of 2003!!! I didn’t even have my MAC until 2008 or 2009…please help. I’ve managed to keep copies of the files each day as they have changed. Where should I be looking and how should I go about getting them since some files I can’t burn…it’ll say can’t read and eject my disk.
Your help is greatly appreciated
Okay, first of all, calm down. You’re simply beginning to find your system files. The wheel and root users are the lower level system users that help run your computer. The reason you can’t access folders even though you’re an admin is because they are root only folders, and if you alter the files, you can seriously mess up your system if you don’t know what you are doing. That explains any permissions problems, where files do not belong to you and you cannot read them. Some folders are modified when you log in, because logs are updating to reflect log-in times and dates as well as beginning crucial system processes.
There are many, many applications that you will have never seen before: have you heard of AppleSpell.service? That’s the new background spell-checker application in Lion. loginwindow? Exactly what it sounds like. There has to be some application that runs as part of the operating system to make functions happen.
As for the last modified dates, those are pieces of the operating system that Apple last made changes to in 2003. While your computer may be new, some parts of the OS were written way back when, and Apple continues to build on older technologies and code.
Is there any particular reason, other than what you’ve listed, why you think your computer was hacked? I’m not sure I totally understand what you mean when you were talking about how files were changing.
Thanks for taking time to help me out…so in my console I’ve noticed a couple of things going on. Ssh being used and my computer being upgraded to MAC x11…I found when it was done, and I know for a fact I didn’t do it cuz it was at 3 in the morning and all updates ask me first and are not set to run automatically. I’ve been googling some of the stuff I’ve seen and have come accross forums that post copy/paste scripts that look exactly like ones I’ve seen…things like nvdanv50hal loaded and registered, usr/bin/local with references to Ssh and root and keygen…stuff was showing up on my console even after I disconnected from any internet connection and the files that are changing are in a folder called bom and when I double click the file, the text edit program runs, the background is black and by selecting all, highlights the text that is filled with symbols and text…I was able to save files and folders so if it would be easier for me to display it I don’t mind. Im not really computer savvy so u would to repo me specifically what to display. Thank you so much. I got a MAC cause I’m not good with computers and heard they were safe machines but I don’t even want to turn it on cuz I’m afraid stuff is going to be done on it or to other ppl …I know I sound paranoid considering where I was born, my name and my “random” selections for airport screenings I don’t want to be accused of anything…please help
I have two accounts, my administrator account, and a separate fieVault account. When I set the fileVault up (years ago), I entered a Master Password with a hint. I recently changed my administrator password and now have a problem: my admin password is not accepted for installation, backup, etc. It works for login, but when I try installation, backup, etc., after 3 tries, it gives me the correct hint for the password, but still refuses it.
I reset the password with the Install disk. When I reboot, my password is not accepted. After 3 tries, I get the hint. After 3 more tries, it asks me for the Master Password, and allows me to change the Administrator Password. The problems are exactly the same as before.
I cleaned the permissions, and zapped the PRAM. Nix. So I tried to create a new Administrator in single user mode, with rm /var/db/ .applesetupdone. I rebooted, but it took me into my old accounts, and did not restart installation. So I tried rm /var/db/ .applesetupdone again, and got “No such file or directory”.
I still have exactly the same problem as before.
I’m running 10.6.8 on a Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53 GHz MacBook Pro.
HELP!
Try the command without the extra space. It should be rm /var/db/.applesetupdone, not rm /var/db/ .applesetupdone (you put a space between the /var/db/ and the .applesetupdone).
Hello! This sounds great! Just one question! Does this work on Macbook air?!!???
Just as long as your OS isn’t 10.4.11, you should be all set!
Hey
I had used this before on my macbook pro and worked fine when i bought it from a friend, how ever I now am selling it to upgrade and have tried and the problems that others are having now seem to have happened to me. How ever my question is this…
If you have done this on 10.4 and the mac will no longer get passed the load screen with the grey background and load icon underneath. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this? Surely it cant be a case of the macbook being completey defunct?
The mac book i have is second hand and i have no boot up disc either. Any help at all would be grand.
Many thanks..
Dave, unfortunately, that is exactly why we have the warning near the top of the post about 10.4 — none of the staff, myself included, have a machine that is still running Tiger. The oldest OS we have running on our machines is Snow Leopard 10.6.8, so we have no way of testing solutions for this problem, and have very little idea what is causing it.
If we can get a Tiger machine, we might be able to run some tests, but until then, I’m not really sure how to help you. Sorry!
Jeff, I just want to thank you. I managed to create a new admin account. But when I tried to set a new password for the original admin account the code of which not being accepted, the new admin account morphed into a Managed Account, so I still couldn’t make changes. So I made yet another admin account, and was able to set new passwords for both the admin accounts, and fix the corrupt login keychain. Much obliged, Clive
No problem! Glad you found it useful!
can’t enter because of old msn account. note, says to sign in as new administrate, please help
I’m not really sure what you’re asking. You can’t log in to your mac due to an MSN account? What application are you trying to run? Are you even on a mac?
I have done all the things in the single mode. It looks like it was gonna work, then at the reboot step…just the eternal spinning wheel. What on earth? I don’t know what OS I’m running. I haven’t a clue. Not even sure how I would know that. Any help would be appreciated!
It’s usually pretty obvious, because it says it in the login window every time you boot up and every time you update your OS.
It sounds like you have Mac OS X Tiger, which is NOT compatible with this guide.
Jeff, you are a genius. After locking myself out of admin controls I could not download a necessary app. This was the third “hack” page I visited and viola! Magic!
I did follow one other poster’s instructions and omitted the space after /db/.
I am now wondering if this is how you computer folks feel all the time, because I feel like a pretty serious bad arse.
Thanks and be well!
PS, love the screen shots to answer questions for people who have criminally underestimated the power of reading comprehension.
hi there,
is there anyway i can delete the new account I made without logging into the other admin? tried in system pref but the – button was not highlighted even after i click unlock… maybe there is some command line i can use in root or terminal? i have osx 10.6.4.
thanks,
zac.
Hey Zac, check out this little article: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20071030151739791
The commands should be the same for Snow Leopard.
I just did this for my roommates computer and it worked fantastically.. except all of her documents are gone!!! Is there anything I can do?
Did you remember to use a different user account name, like we told you to in the instructions? If you use the same name as an existing account, it will overwrite that account.
You’re a bloody legend!
thank you thank you thank you!!!
I have a 10.4.11 and used this method but I for some reason I missed the warning and now it will not load at all is there any way to fix this or undo the procedure without using a second mac or going to the applestore?
Not that we’ve figured out so far — I might have to put the warning in multiple times, because it looks like a few people are just skimming the top section of the article.
Hi all,
in mac OS X Lion it is very simple, simply open “Terminal” and type:
# sudo passwd root
and set the new root password.
now log out and log in again as root.
Unfortunately, you can only use “sudo” if you already have an account on the computer that is an administrator. This article assumes that you do not have access to an administrator account on the computer already.
While you can instead run that command in SUM after mounting the drive and log-in, it’s generally better to use a separate account from the System Administrator (root) to use on a regular basis, as this article assumes you will be doing. Again, you could then create a new account from root, but this helps consolidate the process a little bit.
is terminal an app? how do you do that?
Yes it is, you can find it in your Utilities folder within the Applications folder.
So after you get rid of the file with making a new admin account how do you get that file back so you don’t have to make another admin account
It is created once you go through the setup process, so only one account will be made.
Hey Jeff,
I am helping my buddy out and we followed the instructions that you gave in the article and they worked perfectly. We now have a new admin account that we can log into. In this account we can acces some of the programs he had on the old account but we are not able to get the documents for the old account. The old account DOES have Firevault turned on, which is the reason why he got locked out of the old account. How can we access the documents on the old account. Thank you in advance for your help.
You would have to extract the hash for the account and decrypt it, then use that to unlock the Filevault account.
I had my laptop stolen which was eventually recovered by the police. Unfortunately my admin username and account were deleted. These instructions were a huge help in getting me up and running again. Thank you.
WOW< thats what I say, WOW! Worked like a champ, Unbelievable how simple!!
Thank you very much!!!
Please Help! When I type in /sbin/mount -uw / nothing else happens!! Please tell me whats wrong.
btw i have 10.6.8
Check the white text above the prompt in Single-User Mode and make sure it’s the same. Are you in SUM?
Hi!
I press cmd+s as soon as i start my macbook pro after the chime, but it doesn’t enter the Single User mode, rather it continues with the regular boot.
Please help, as i do not have any account on my macbook with admin privileges.
Is a firmware password enabled on your computer?
when i hold down CMD+S it doesn’t work, am I doing it wrong?
Are you actually holding down the + symbol?
so there is no way i can create a new administration if i dnt hv wireless internet because i dnt hv
Hm? You shouldn’t need wireless internet to complete this procedure.
I followed all the steps but after it lets me create a password and user name it starts all over from select a language. How do I fix this ? I tried installing the cd and still the same problem
Persist
What version of OS X are you running?
Will this delete my accounts already made on the mac?
No, it won’t, unless you name the new account the exact same as an existing account — in that case, it’ll overwrite it.
My son received his macbook pro and logged in as the original administrator, created files and set up his desktop. Now I went in and made myself the administrator, created a new user for my son with parental controls…the problem is that when he logs in all of his files and desktop are gone. You can only access them from administrator and administrator can’t have parental controls! I want to put all his stuff in his account. How do I do that?
You should just make his old account into a managed user with parental controls, instead of creating a new account for him.
I did the reserting the password thing and reboot now it doesnt load it stays blue with half the LOG IN SQUARE…
What version of the OS are you running?