New to me MacBook Air M1 setup woes

[LVR911]

Heckuva way to start here at Macrumors. ? I’m embarrassed to report that I promptly locked myself out of my new-to-me MacbookAir M1 as soon as I received it.

I’ve received a new-to-me 2020 MacbookAir M1. The day I received it, I inadvertently locked myself out of it before I even got it properly formatted. I turned it on, created an account name and password. I put the password in my PW manager and synced it so I’d safely have it before using Migration Manager to transfer data from my older Mac. And for cryin’ out loud...the sync didn’t work properly and I lost (AND FORGOT) the password.

I’ve spoken with Apple and they had me use recovery disc to reinstall Big Sur, but it brings me back to the login page again. GAH. Is there a full factory reset method I can access without the password? I will off myself if I have bricked this new laptop...

 

[chabig]

You might need to restore it.

Revive or restore a Mac with Apple silicon using Apple Configurator 2

In rare circumstances, Apple computers become unresponsive and the chip’s firmware must be revived or restored.

support.apple.com

 

[LVR911]

You might need to restore it.

Revive or restore a Mac with Apple silicon using Apple Configurator 2

In rare circumstances, Apple computers become unresponsive and the chip’s firmware must be revived or restored.

support.apple.com

Thank you for the response and the link. I’ll consult bigger brains for guidance with this!

 

[Apple_Robert]

The following video should get you up and going in just a few minutes. If you had the box ticked that allow you to use your Apple ID to reset the password, you will be fine.

 

[circatee]

Also, I thought there was an option to unlock your Mac computer account, with your Apple ID.

 

[Zazoh]

We’re you setting up as new? “New to me.” Did previous owner wipe the device so you were setting up as new? And how and. What PW manager did you synch to?

 

[OafTobark]

But why in the world would you use a generated password for access to your computer? Ouch!

Best of luck