Hi There,In my Macbook pro – 2021, I am clicking on shutdown > closing the lid > opening the lid (mac automatically turns on). Here it says, “touchID requires password when mac restarts”. Why is it so, I had shutdown not restart? Someone please explain this.
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Krishna A
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MacBook Asking for Password Instead Of Touch ID When I Log In?
Comments: 19 Responses to “MacBook Asking for Password Instead Of Touch ID When I Log In?”
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That's right. When you shut down a Mac you are logging out of your account. Any time you log out of your account you need to log back in again with a password. You can't use Touch ID to log in for the first time.
"To use Touch ID for these tasks, you must have logged in to your Mac already by entering your password."
(https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-touch-id-mchl16fbf90a/mac).
Think of it like two levels of security. The highest level requires a password to get access to your Mac user account. The second level only requires Touch ID. There is no "no password, only Touch ID" level. You always have to enter your password the first time you access the account.
The technical reason is the Secure Enclave. That is where some high security data resides on your Mac. This includes the fingerprint data used by Touch ID. So when you first log in, the Secure Enclave is locked. You can't use Touch ID yet, because there is nothing to match your fingerprint to. But when you log in with your password, it unlocks the Secure Enclave and now you can use Touch ID.
If this is an inconvenience, then what you should do is simply stop shutting down your Mac. There's no reason to, and in fact you shouldn't. See https://macmost.com/a-beginners-guide-to-whether-to-shut-down-or-sleep-your-mac.html
@Gary,
But when I shutdown why does it shows as the mac was restarted -
“Touchid required password when mac restarts”, why is this?
I had shutdown not restart. Please share some info on this.
Krishna: A "Restart" is just a Shut Down + Start Up. Either way, the important part is that you are LOGGED OUT when you do it. Logging out means you need to authenticate again (enter password) to be able to use Touch ID.
@Gary, Thanks a lot for the information.
I really appreciate your efforts to take time and reply to the question.
Hi there,
I set up Touch ID about five days again out of concern of a security breach. For context, I recently divorced an executive level expert in cloud security engineering with a major tech corporation. I have not shut down my computer at any point since doing so. Two times now has asked for a password prior to logging in with touch-id and without being in sleep mode for longer than 6 - 8 hours tops. Should I be concerned?
Amanda: there are lots of reasons you’d be asked for a password instead of Touch ID. I wouldn’t jump right to high tech spy stuff. Just make sure you have a new password for all of your devices, your Apple ID and all email services.
simple solution. delete password..... ya would be nice to have some kind of security but if you dont want a password just delete it..... i did.... good thing i dont care about this mac geting attacked.....
mizrik: I do NOT recommend this. For ANYONE.
Hi Gary, I have had my MacBook Air for 5 days now. Yesterday I shut it down and now can’t open it because I apparently don’t remember the correct password. I’ve tried every password I have used in the past but nothing works. How can I get back into my computer? Thanks for your help.
Tom: your options are here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202860
I'm experiencing a touch ID issue with my mac. Every time after an inactive session, its asking for pwd to enable touch ID. It was not like this before. A single touch of any keys on keyboard will wake the screen and touch ID will let me unlock the machine. But for the past two days, when i try to wake my scree after some inactive time, i see loading bar comes up for 10 secs and then login prompt comes out and asking for pwd. I even set as "NEVER" for pwd required after display is turned off.
Rocky: If you are sure you have your settings set correctly then the next step would be to call Apple Support.
Gary Rosenzweig - Thanks. i did connect but they have no clue and asking me to go to recovery mode and reinstall the OS. When I close the lid and open it after few seconds, i see loading bar comes up and loads for 10 secs and then asking for password even though touch ID is in place. I also don't see lid settings, this is MacBook Pro - MacOS Ventura 13.6.2
Rocky: Sorry, not sure what the problem could be.
Finally figured out. used below terminal commands and that fixed the issue. Now everything is back to normal. Hope this will help someone.
sudo pmset -a disablesleep 1
sudo pmset -g
pmset -g sched
sudo pmset restoredefaults
For some reason, my MacBook logged me out last night and I’m trying to lock. It says that I need to put in my password to enable touch ID. I have not set up touch ID on this and I do not remember what my password is. How can I get into my MacBook?
Sherry: If you don't remember you password to log into your Mac, then that could be a major problem. It depends on how old your Mac is (version of macOS) and other factors. I would call Apple Support and work with them on this.
Hey Garry. I am new to macbook and i have this mba m1. I forgot my mac password and now i need to update my software but it requires me to enter password, theres no option for a touch id. Is there anything i can do with this? Thank you so much. I hope you see this.
yna: See https://support.apple.com/en-us/102633