Help with iMac requiring a recovery key that I don’t have

[ssledoux]

My daughter is trying to login to her iMac. The password isn’t working, and when she tries to go through all the stuff to reset it, it only wants a recovery key, which she doesn’t have.

M1 if that matters.

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

Who set up her computer?
You're SURE the password is correct?
Is the account connected to her AppleID?

 

[ssledoux]

Who set up her computer?
You're SURE the password is correct?
Is the account connected to her AppleID?

She did. She’s an adult. She is almost certain the password is correct. The only way it wouldn’t be is if one of her young kids changed it somehow.

Yes - it’s connected to her Apple ID.

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

Eh, forget it.

 

[tonmischa]

From what I understand, creating a recovery keys locks people out of the normal Apple ID process

I believe you are confusing this with the recovery key of the 2FA of an AppleAccount. But this is not what is meant here.
We are talking about the recovery key that can be set up during the FileVault encryption of the Boot Volume.
Usually the boot drive is decrypted (=unlocked) with the login password, but the volume can also be unlocked with the recovery key.
If OPs daughter went through the usual Login Recovery steps, she will be asked in Recovery Mode for this FileVault recovery key.

Here are options if she has access to either another device that's hers or another Apple device from someone she knows:

The link you posted is not correct for this topic. We are talking about the login for the Mac, not the login to her Apple Account.


@OP:
Ask your daughter to reboot (or startup) the Mac and try to login again. Ask her to look into the right upper corner of the login screen and have her check if the correct keyboard layout is selected.
I had so many problems with "non-working passwords" just because the keyboard layout had been switched from German (my home country) to US somehow.

If that doesnt help, have her follow these steps:

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

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

Please delete.

 

[ssledoux]

I wasn’t trying to cause trouble here - my daughter is just trying to figure out what’s going on. This is something I’ve never run across with my iMac, so I’m stumped. She was trying to follow the steps on the support page, but wasn’t getting the same options it was showing.

Thanks for the help - I’ll share it with her this morning.

 

[ssledoux]

I believe you are confusing this with the recovery key of the 2FA of an AppleAccount. But this is not what is meant here.
We are talking about the recovery key that can be set up during the FileVault encryption of the Boot Volume.
Usually the boot drive is decrypted (=unlocked) with the login password, but the volume can also be unlocked with the recovery key.
If OPs daughter went through the usual Login Recovery steps, she will be asked in Recovery Mode for this FileVault recovery key.


The link you posted is not correct for this topic. We are talking about the login for the Mac, not the login to her Apple Account.


@OP:
Ask your daughter to reboot (or startup) the Mac and try to login again. Ask her to look into the right upper corner of the login screen and have her check if the correct keyboard layout is selected.
I had so many problems with "non-working passwords" just because the keyboard layout had been switched from German (my home country) to US somehow.

If that doesnt help, have her follow these steps:

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

It worked! She’s in!

Now she’s gonna be sure to set a recovery key just to have for the future!

 

[Henry V]

Great news!!
Did she have the wrong password, or was it something else?

 

[ssledoux]

Great news!!
Did she have the wrong password, or was it something else?

It must’ve been the keyboard setting mentioned above because she put US and then the password and it worked. I guess it’s possible one of her kids accidentally hit something while using it.