The only odd thing about that is it doesn’t actually get you past FileVault encryption.
#WHAT IS A RECOVERY KEY FOR MAC PASSWORD#
Option 3: User FileVault-enabled user passwordĪnd if you do know a user password, of course, you can select the user, and then enter a password when prompted. Then you can enter the FileVault recovery key for the drive. Well, you can click Forgot all passwords?
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Option 2: Use FileVault recovery key with no passwordīut let’s say you don’t want to wipe the drive necessarily-you just want to do other recovery mode stuff, and you don’t know any user passwords. You’ll then be prompted to join a wireless network, and then some kind of Internet recovery is downloaded and booted to, and then you’ll be back at recovery mode with a prompt to activate your Mac, and then with the opportunity to reinstall macOS on the freshly wiped drive. You can just click Recovery Assistant and then select Erase Mac…. Yes, that’s that menu item hidden in the top-left corner. If you don’t know the password to a user account and also don’t know the recovery key to FileVault, you can still use recovery mode to erase the current installation and reinstall macOS. Option 1: Erase without password or recovery key This prompt just seems like a rather odd choice, especially since it appears to act as almost some kind of firmware lock… except it’s not. Without mounting the encrypted drive, you can’t really reset a password or have access to the data on the drive. T2-chip Macs have hardware-based encryption, and that encryption is able to turn on instantaneously. It’s not exactly clear what this password is for.
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If you don’t recall setting up such a password, well, you probably didn’t.Īfter entering any required passwords, the macOS Utilities window should appear.Starting in macOS 10.15 (Catalina), Apple started requiring a password to do anything useful after booting into recovery mode: A firmware password prevents starting up from any internal or external storage device other than the startup disk you’ve selected. You may have to enter a password, such as a firmware password or the password of the user who’s an administrator of the Mac. Startup is complete when you see the utilities window. Continue holding the keys down until you see the Apple logo or a spinning globe.
#WHAT IS A RECOVERY KEY FOR MAC MAC#
To use macOS Recovery on an Intel-based Mac, hold down Command (⌘)-R on your keyboard immediately after restarting your Mac or immediately after your Mac begins to restart. MacOS Recovery Mode on an Intel-based Mac From a shutdown state, double-press and hold the power button to boot into Fallback recovery OS. However, it won’t allow you to change the system security state - which most of us probably shouldn’t mess with anyway. It’s the same process as recoveryOS boot, except that it boots to a second copy of recoveryOS that, in Apple’s words, “is kept for resiliency.” If macOS Recovery Mode didn’t solve your problems, you can give “Fallback recovery OS” a try. Choose “Apple menu () > Startup Disk.” To quit the app, choose Startup Disk > Quit Startup Disk.
![what is a recovery key for mac what is a recovery key for mac](https://cdn.osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/how-to-create-apple-id-recovery-key-3-709x1536.jpg)
Use this one with care! In the Recovery app window, select Disk Utility, then click Continue. Disk Utility: Repair or erase your disk.Note that Safari browser plug-ins and extensions are disabled in macOS Recovery. To return to the Recovery app, choose “Safari > Quit Safari.” If you’re connected to the internet, you can use Safari to search for more information on the Apple Support website. Safari: In the Recovery app window, select Safari, then click Continue.