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How to unlock Mac computers after it is locked
How to unlock Mac computers after it is locked
Updated over 2 months ago

There are three ways you can remotely lock an Apple device: with Activation Lock, by locking a Mac remotely, or by using Managed Lost Mode.

  • Activation Lock: When Activation Lock is turned on, it’s difficult for someone else to use or sell an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch if it’s ever lost or stolen. Further, if you manage Activation Lock with an MDM solution, you get additional theft deterrence and can even turn off Activation Lock for devices your organization owns. For more details, please check here.

  • Lock a Mac: Mobile device management (MDM) administrators can lock a Mac with a six-digit PIN and include a short message. After the command has been sent to the device, the device restarts and the user can see the message. The user can’t restart macOS until the PIN has been entered and validated by the Mac. For more details, please check here.

    Note: Locking a Mac computer with Apple silicon requires macOS 11.5 or later.

  • Managed Lost Mode: Managed Lost Mode for supervised iPhone or iPad locks the current user out of the device until Managed Lost Mode is turned off. (Swif currently doesn't support this.)

This article is to show you how to unlock a Mac after it is locked by an administrator using MDM.

After a Mac is locked, you can click unlock and get the unlock PIN.

Then you can type in the PIN on the locked Mac to unlock it. Please note, that if the unlock screen doesn't let you type in or the keyboard fails to enter values, you can press (Command + R) during reboot, then the unlock screen will work.

A Mac showing that recoveryOS is locked.
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