2013 iMac with four accounts...cannot remember any of the passwords :(

[AshleyQuick]

And I hope this doesn't make it worse, a relative put Boot Camp on it a while back so it automatically loads Windows 10.

Well I'd like to completely reset this and use ONLY macOS.

If there is a way, please divulge. I've reached an impasse

 

[ferrarr]

You need to remove the Boot Camp partition;

Remove Windows from your Mac using Boot Camp

Use Boot Camp Assistant to remove Windows from your Intel-based Mac.

support.apple.com

 

[MacInWin]

Welcome to the forum. Your title of the thread and your post didn't make sense to me, sorry. What is the problem? Passwords or Boot Camp? If you cannot log in because of the passwords, you may have to take seriously drastic measures to try to recover that Mac to full service. But let us know what the real issue is and we'll see what we can suggest.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

If you forgot your Mac login password - Apple Support

If you can’t log in to your Mac user account, try these solutions.

support.apple.com

 

[Rod]

If you cannot remember, obtain or reset any of the passwords the only option is to totally erase the Hard Drive (HD) using a bootable source running a compatible macOS.
As this is a 2013 iMac a compatible macOS would be macOS Catalina. You can update from there but at least it will be APFS format which began with Catalina.
It is possible to create a bootable macOS Installer of Catalina on a USB Thumb Drive using the macOS Catalina Installer from the Apple App Store and free software on another Mac computer.
Then it is simply a matter of booting your iMac holding the Option key, chose the USB Thumb Drive from the Startup options then erase the HD and run the Installer.
The fly in the ointment here is the Windows partition. I am not sure if the bootable macOS Installer will be able to erase the Windows partition along with the macOS or if the newly installed macOS will be able to use Boot Camp to erase a pre existing Windows once set up. My gut feeling is the latter should be possible but it's outside my experience to say for sure.
Maybe someone else can chime in on this?

 

[Rod]

Obviously the best choice would be to obtain one of the passwords, perhaps from the relative who installed Windows?

 

[AshleyQuick]

If you cannot remember, obtain or reset any of the passwords the only option is to totally erase the Hard Drive (HD) using a bootable source running a compatible macOS.
As this is a 2013 iMac a compatible macOS would be macOS Catalina. You can update from there but at least it will be APFS format which began with Catalina.
It is possible to create a bootable macOS Installer of Catalina on a USB Thumb Drive using the macOS Catalina Installer from the Apple App Store and free software on another Mac computer.
Then it is simply a matter of booting your iMac holding the Option key, chose the USB Thumb Drive from the Startup options then erase the HD and run the Installer.
The fly in the ointment here is the Windows partition. I am not sure if the bootable macOS Installer will be able to erase the Windows partition along with the macOS or if the newly installed macOS will be able to use Boot Camp to erase a pre existing Windows once set up. My gut feeling is the latter should be possible but it's outside my experience to say for sure.
Maybe someone else can chime in on this?

I want to try this erasure with a thumb drive. Do you happen to know if it's possible to create what I need on a Windows computer? I don't have another mac.

 

[Rod]

Sadly, I dont thtink so. Maybe someone else can give you a definitive answer but the filing system is completely different and to create a bootable macOS installer you need to format the USB in MacOS download the macOS installer from the Apple App Store and modify it using a third party Mac application. I really doubt if thats possible on Windows.




Your best (and easiest) bet would be to buy a Bootable macOS installer on a Thumb Drive online from say eBay. You will find they are readily available in a range of Mac Operating Systems. I found several on the Aust eBay site such as the one above:

 

[ferrarr]

I just replied to your other thread about using macOS Internet Recovery.

Use macOS Recovery on an Intel-based Mac

Learn how to use macOS Recovery on an Intel-based Mac.

support.apple.com