I installed Zorin OS on my laptop a few months ago and recently started using it again, but I forgot my account password. The laptop logs straight into the desktop because automatic login is enabled, but I still need the password to install games and make system changes. What is the safest way to reset it?
1 Answer
If you’re already at the desktop, open Terminal and run `passwd`. It will ask for your current password, so this only works if you remember it. You can also try `sudo passwd YOUR_USERNAME`, but sudo will normally require your existing password too.
If you don’t know it, restart the laptop and open the boot menu by holding Shift or pressing Esc during startup. Choose **Advanced options for Zorin OS**, select the recovery-mode entry, and then choose **root**. In the root shell, remount the system as writable with `mount -o remount,rw /`, then reset the account password with `passwd YOUR_USERNAME`. Replace `YOUR_USERNAME` with your actual login name. After setting the new password, run `reboot` and log in normally. This may not work if the drive is encrypted and you also forgot its encryption passphrase.
I can get into the desktop automatically, but I don’t know the password needed by Terminal or the software installer. So I’ll try the recovery-mode method rather than `sudo`.