In order to keep your machine safe from attack, you need to protect all of its local accounts with secure passwords. A secure password is a combination of letters and numbers. It's something that would be very hard for you to forget, but virtually impossible for anyone else to figure out. If this password is forgotten, it cannot be reset. You may want to write it somewhere safe, but remember, if you write the password and keep it near your machine, anyone who finds it will be able to access all of your data and programs.

To change the password on an OS X account:

1. Open System Preferences from your dock or from the Apple menu.
   
   
2. Click Accounts in the System pane.
   
   
3. Select the account whose password you want to change from the account list on the left.
   
   
4. Click the Change Password... button if you see it. Type a new password in the Password field and re-type it in the Verify field. You may also enter a hint to remind you of the password should you forget it.
   
   
5. Quit System Preferences, saving your changes.

To reach this page quickly in the future, use the keyword macpwd.

Send reports of security incidents, attacks, or questions to security@columbia.edu