He locked himself out on his MBP

[Wingsley]

My 82-year-old father got an M3 14-inch MacBook Pro in 2024. The other night he decided to "clean" it by wiping a paper towel over the keyboard. In doing so, he somehow altered the log-in password so now nobody can log-in. I can kick myself for never enabling the fingerprint ID. What can I do to straighten this mess out?

 

[kitKAC]

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102633

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

He can’t change the password by wiping the keyboard. Something else must have happened.

 

[Fishrrman]

Sounds like it's time for a trip to an Apple Store genius bar.

BE SURE that you bring "proof of ownership".
If it's "locked", they probably will not "Unlock" it without proof (such as sales invoice) that he is, in fact, the owner.

 

[MarineBand5524]

My 82-year-old father got an M3 14-inch MacBook Pro in 2024. The other night he decided to "clean" it by wiping a paper towel over the keyboard. In doing so, he somehow altered the log-in password so now nobody can log-in. I can kick myself for never enabling the fingerprint ID. What can I do to straighten this mess out?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102633

This is the way to get back in your mac.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

You sound as if you are the "tech support/administrator" for your dad, is this assumption correct?

If so, I'd suggest you do this:
First, it will hurt nothing and not interfere with anything your father does on the Mac.

Once you get his password restored, so that he can boot and get to the finder, go to "users & groups" and create a NEW administrative account. Give it a name and a password that YOU will remember. MAKE SURE you give this account administrative powers.

You don't really need to set this up beyond having a username and password.

Now, if he gets in trouble again with almost anything, you can reboot into the "alternate" account and work on things from there. The rest of the time this account will just be there, not used, and not interfering with anything else.