Changing Admin PW on iMac

Had Apple Techs replace my 1 TB HD with a 256K SSD and transfer all my data to the SSD. They needed my Mac PW to do this. My question is, should I change my Mac PW, which I assume is the same as my ADMIN PW since I'm the only one who used this computer? Is that necessary? Read something that said if I did that I would lose all my 'Keychain" data, whatever that is. Any idea what I should do?

I agree that you should change your admin password after having given it to the techs. You will not lose your keychain data if you change your admin password as the new password would replace the old one in the keychain. You will still be able to retain and unlock your keychain data with the new password.

Okay, my thinking exactly. Now, how do I go about changing my admin password?

Go into System Preferences > Security & Privacy.


Bob -

Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

System Preferences ->Users & groups ->On the left side select your user name which should be designated as Admin -> Then on the right select the "Change Password" button. Put in your old password then type in your new one (twice) and I suggest a hint you would recognize.

That is all there is to it! FYI - This will only change the password for your admin account on your mac. Changing your mac password will not change your apple ID/iCloud password.

Edit: Bob types faster - and his way will work too!

Lisa

Read something that said if I did that I would lose all my 'Keychain" data,

Click to expand...

You won't if you follow the excellent instructions above.

BUT - you were wise to bring up the Keychain question because if you had to RESET your PW because you had forgotten it, then the method is quite different and in that instance you would lose your Keychain.

FYI, Keychain sores all your username/passwords and that would be a serious loss for those who did not have a PW Manager or other means of storing/recording their PWs.

Ian

I did what Bob suggested and it worked fine. Thanks to lisa for the other suggestion. And thanks to Ian for explaining Keychain...So is Keychain like a PW manager for Safari? If not, or for redundancy, should I get a separate PW manager program? Which PW manager programs do you all suggest, and is the PW manager stored on an external drive? Pete

Keychain manages the passwords for your Mac, which includes Safari, and any other passwords used throughout all macOS operations. There’s a lot of security that goes on without being seen.


Bob -

Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

Keychain is handy and it does store some passwords. Others are stored in Safari (Preferences, Passwords to see them). I use 1Password for storing passwords and other sensitive data. Never a bad idea to have more than one. If you turn on iCloud and sync to your other devices, both Keychain and 1Password will update your iDevices and others with updates as they happen.

My setup is the same as Jake's.

Keychain synced across all devices AND 1Password app (1PW) which also syncs across all.

The advantage of 1PW (and there are other PW managers too, of course), is that you can store Licence details for apps, Credit Cards which can self populate on a website IF you choose, with the extra security that you have to put in the 3 digit number on the back, your address (self populate), and Watchtower which is linked to "Have I Been Pwned". This tells you if any PW you use has been involved in a security breach.

1PW is also a PW generator (but then again, Safari offers unique "strong" PWs too. 1PW can also tell which sites you subscribe to offer 2FA (2 Factor Authentication) and help you set it up.

It's a matter of choice. Each to their own.

Ian

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. On another note, Even before I changed my HD to SSD, and even now, I don't have to log into MacForums as it keeps me logged in, even when I leave the site and shut down my Mac. Is this something new? Last I heard the Forum website was going to be shutdown and possibly go somewhere else. Not sure if that ever happened.

Pete

I don't know if that password remembering is "new" but it is now a feature you can use. Safari stores passwords and if you click in the "Remember me" box at log in, the next time it will log you in automatically. It's been around for a long time.

Yes, the site is under new management. A group of the mods moved it intact to a new server and are now running it themselves. And we all appreciate that effort and work!

Last I heard the Forum website was going to be shutdown and possibly go somewhere else. Not sure if that ever happened.

Click to expand...

As you can see, Pete, we are rejuvenated, going strong and now an independent Forum, thanks to the enormous efforts of the Admins & Moderators, especially Nick. (pigoo3).

So keep posting. We are here to help.

Ian

Also appreciate the effort put into supporting this forum and all the experts on the forum who help the less, much less, knowledgeable.

Pete

Bill Gates Jr. said:

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. On another note, Even before I changed my HD to SSD, and even now, I don't have to log into MacForums as it keeps me logged in, even when I leave the site and shut down my Mac. Is this something new? Last I heard the Forum website was going to be shutdown and possibly go somewhere else. Not sure if that ever happened.

Pete

Click to expand...

If or when you have to "clear history", in your browser, you may be asked to log back in with user name and password.