When creating an account on the Mac or MacBook, the system asks us to choose a password, so that we can protect the account adequately when we are away or when it is unattended in the room or office. However, if we use the Mac only at home and there is no danger that someone can enter without permission, we can also consider automatic access to the Mac without having to enter the password each time (which remains an additional guarantee tool in every case). In this guide we will show you how to automatically access the Mac without a password, speeding up access to our Apple Mac or MacBook.
In the guide we will also show you how to set an empty password for access (so that you can deceive any spy, who will expect to have to enter a password to access).
READ ALSO -> Configure a Mac in a Windows corporate network to work in the office
Remove the password prompt on the Mac
To set up automatic login and thus remove the password request when starting a Mac or MacBook, we start the system, click on the Apple symbol in the upper left corner and open the System Preferences menu.
In the system settings menu, click on the Users and groups icon, click on the padlock at the bottom left of the window (next to Disabled changes ) and enter the access password to unlock advanced changes.
Now we click on the Login Options item and, on the right side, we open the drop-down menu next to the Automatic Login item, so that we can select the user account with which to immediately access the login.
The system will ask for the password for the last time: enter it and restart the system, by clicking on the Apple symbol at the top left and clicking on Restart .
Access to secondary accounts
With automatic login active, we will not be able to log in with any secondary accounts set up on the Mac, since the system will immediately start the account chosen for the login without a password; if after starting we want to access the other accounts, we disconnect the account by clicking on the Apple symbol at the top left and finally clicking Log out from .
Alternatively, we can log out of the account using the keyboard shortcut SHIFT + COMMAND + Q.
How to set an empty password
Instead of completely removing the password from the Mac, we want to set an empty one, so as to deceive the most distracted onlookers ">
From now on we can also leave the Mac login window, sure that only we "know" that just leave the field empty to access our account.
Obviously this method is quite vulnerable and risks compromising the security of the account (as suggested also by the warning window of the Mac): you might as well set the automatic login and still leave the password active (which we remember is used very often on Mac for access advanced features or to install programs and apps).
How to create a new user without a password
Do we want to create a new user on our Mac who can log in without a password request, perhaps to be added to the main account?
In this case we can act in two ways: by enabling guest mode or by creating a new account without a password.
To enable the guest account (suitable for friends, children and relatives), click on the Apple symbol at the top left, open System Preferences and click on the Users and groups icon.
We unlock the changes by clicking on the padlock at the bottom left, select Guest user and enable it by clicking Allow guests to log in to this computer .
If we also need parental controls on the account, we also enable the Enable parental controls item and click Open Parental Controls to decide what guest users can do on the Mac.
Now all we have to do is restart the Mac or log out of the user in use: in the login screen we will see a new guest user, who can use some Mac programs and access only authorized areas without entering the access password.
This account is ideal for a child, visiting relative or friend to use the Mac, so as to keep it away from our personal account. Obviously in order to be effective we will have to disable automatic login with our account and set a good password, so as to prevent a too curious user from opening the wrong account.
Conclusions
We have seen several scenarios with which to configure a password-free access on our Mac, so as to speed up the startup of the machine and, in case of shared use, how to configure a guest user who can use (within certain limits) our Mac without password .
If we need to reset and restore the Mac operating system, please read our guide -> How to reset / restore the Mac and reinstall MacOS .
