Setting Your Password on Your Macintosh OS X Computer
When you installed OS X, it asked you to choose a password. This is the Administrator password that has full access to your computer. You may have chosen a simple password. It is critical to change this to a secure password. This will help prevent unauthorized people from using your computer at your desk or remotely. It is even better to change your account to a Standard account and create a new one for Administrative uses. See below.
- From the Apple Menu or the Dock, open System Preferences.
- Under the System heading,
open the Accounts preferences.
(In older versions of OS X, this was labeled "Users".) - Select the name of the
person whose password you want to change and
click Password tab.
(If other user accounts are grayed out, you may need to authenticate as the Administrator. Click the Lock in the lower left corner to login as the Administrator.) - Click the Change Password button.
- Type in the current password in the Old Password field.
- Type in your new password in the New Password field. Type it in again in the Verify field.
- Type in a Password Hint. This is a clue to remind you of the password in case you forget. Do not type in the actual password!
- Click the Change Password button.
Disabling Auto Login
By default, your computer is set up to log you in automatically without requiring a password. This is convenient, but very insecure. Anyone with access to your office or computer can login as you and do things without your knowledge.
- From the Apple Menu or the Dock, open System Preferences.
- Under the System heading,
open the Accounts preferences.
(In older versions of OS X, this was labeled "Users".) - Click the Login Options button
at the bottom of the Accounts list.
(If the plus button is grayed out, click the lock icon to make changes. Enter your Administrator password.) - Uncheck the box next to Automatically log in as ...
- For Display login window as:,
select Name
and password.
This will require not only knowing the password but the user name. - Close the window or click the back arrow at the top.
Creating a Standard Account for everyday work.
Be default, the account created when installing OS X is an Administrator account, which has full access or the equivalent of "root" access. It is not secure or necessary to use an Administrator account for routine work. A more secure practice is to create a new Administrator account and change your account to a Standard account.
You will need to know the logins and passwords for both accounts. The Standard account you will use daily to login to your computer. The Administrator login/password will be used when you need to install software, make system changes or update your operating system.
- From the Apple Menu or the Dock, open System Preferences.
- Under the System heading,
open the Accounts preferences.
(In older versions of OS X, this was labeled "Users".) - Click the Plus button in the lower left corner to create a new account.
(If the plus button is grayed out, click the Lock icon to make changes. Enter your current Administrator password.) - In the Name field, type a Full Name for the new Administrator account.
(Do not use Admin, it will be too easy to guess.) - In the Short Name field, either type in a user name or accept the one given.
- In the Password field, type in a secure password.
(See the Creating a Strong Password section. You can click the key icon next to the Password field for password suggestions and a guide to show the strength of your chosen password.) - In the Verify field, type the password in again.
- Type in a Password Hint. This is a clue to help you remember the password you selected. Do not type in the actual password!
- Click the Create Account button.
- You should now have a new Admin account.
- In the My Account pane, click on your every day account.
- In the right pane, click the Password tab. Uncheck the box next to "Allow user to administer this computer." This will change your everyday account into a Standard account.
This will add another layer of security to your Macintosh computer. If anyone compromises your password, he will not be able to act as an administrator on your machine. Remember, you will need to know the Admin login and password for administrative functions like installing software, making system changes or updating your operating system.