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My 5 year old got into my locked MacBook

TonyC28

TonyC28

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Aug 15, 2009
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USA
I'm trying to figure out how this happened, so who better to ask than the experts here. My M1 MacBook Air was locked after sitting idle for some time. My five year old son came downstairs claiming to know my password. He likes to joke about that and usually rattles off some gibberish. This time, however, he rattled off my actual password. He claims he woke the computer and somehow saw a question mark near the Enter Password field. When he clicked on it, the password appeared in the box. I can't figure out how he managed this. I can't even get a question mark to appear. Normally I would think he's lying to me, but there's no way he ever knew my password. Does anyone know what might have happened here?

This is the screen he saw and claims had a question mark on it.
IMG_0723.JPG
 

Add a password hint on Mac

On your Mac, add a password hint to help you remember your password.
support.apple.com support.apple.com

As a test, I suggest setting a hint of something easily recognizable, like "The Hunting of the Snark". After it's been definitively set, you can play around with getting it to display.

Or if you don't want to play around with your actual admin account, make a new throwaway account you can play with. It can be deleted when you're done.
 
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TonyC28 said:
Now we're getting somewhere. That option is turned on, but I can't figure out how to display the hint. I entered the wrong password several times and nothing comes up.
Click to expand...
The question mark/hint doesn't show if the account is already logged in. It should show up if you restart or log out of your account.
 
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Well, we have gotten to the bottom of it. Somehow, my hint was set as my password. I'm not an idiot, and there is no way in a million years I would do that. My wife is also an admin on the laptop, so I am blaming her. Thanks everyone for the help.
 
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As is often the case, the source of the problems is located between the chair and the keyboard 🫣. But it should be impossible to use the password as a clue to the password.
 
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Steph.fr said:
As is often the case, the source of the problems is located between the chair and the keyboard 🫣. But it should be impossible to use the password as a clue to the password.
Click to expand...
I was pretty shocked to see it. And like I said, no way in hell I did that myself. And I agree, this shouldn’t even be possible.
 
TonyC28 said:
Well, we have gotten to the bottom of it. Somehow, my hint was set as my password. I'm not an idiot, and there is no way in a million years I would do that. My wife is also an admin on the laptop, so I am blaming her. Thanks everyone for the help.
Click to expand...
I was about to say, a button to reveal the password you're in the middle of typing is a feature I've wanted for the longest time (and have submitted feedback about). I almost wish the kid would have figured out a way to do it. :D
 
TonyC28 said:
Well, we have gotten to the bottom of it. Somehow, my hint was set as my password. I'm not an idiot, and there is no way in a million years I would do that. My wife is also an admin on the laptop, so I am blaming her. Thanks everyone for the help.
Click to expand...
On reading the thread, this was my first thought. I tend not to use hints, not because of potential tripups like this, but because even with a hint I still don’t remember the password.
 
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