How to set a firmware password on a Mac

Currently, almost everyone has a login password set up on the laptop. It is a simple way to secure your account and data from prying eyes, and keep your account completely private. If you use a Mac, you can add an additional layer of security using Filevault. This feature ensures that only logged-in users can access data on the hard drive.

However, neither of these methods prevents someone from booting a Mac from an external hard drive. This may allow the user to not know how to reinstall the firmware to the Mac and access or delete the data.

An easy fix for this is to set the firmware password on a Mac. The firmware password is the third security layer that prevents Mac from entering Recovery mode, unless you enter a password. Basically, this means that no one can use Recovery mode to change the firmware on a Mac or boot from another bootable hard drive without entering a password. This password can be set by accessing the Mac in Recovery mode (explained below) and setting the firmware password. Although this may sound easy, there is a big drawback you need to know.

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Since this is a firmware password, it cannot be seen or used during normal Mac usage every day. However, in case you need to reset your Mac or boot from another hard drive, you will need to enter the password. And if you forget it, there is no way to reset this password. You can't even access your Mac in Recovery mode to reset or change the firmware without entering a password. So basically, if you lose the firmware password, you will be in big trouble.

Currently, only Apple knows how to reset this firmware password, so you'll have to bring your Mac to Apple Store or an authorized Apple service provider to request a password reset.

If you accept the risk, simply follow the steps below to set the firmware password on a Mac:

1. Turn off the Mac, then turn it on again.

2. Hold down Cmd + R immediately to activate Recovery mode. Recovery mode, (as the name suggests) is often used to restore firmware on a Mac or reset it with an external hard drive. However, in this case, we will use it to set the password.

3. When the Utilities screen appears, click Utilities from the menu bar.

4. Select Startup Security Utility .

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5. Click 'Turn On Firmware Password' .

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6. Enter the password you want to set as the password for the firmware, verify the password and then click 'Set Password'.

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7. After finishing, click 'Quit Startup Security Utility' .

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8. Click the menu in the upper left corner and select Restart. This will restart the Mac. You can continue to use it as usual.

Now, you don't have to worry about strangers accessing or resetting data using an external hard drive that can boot, if the Mac is stolen or lost, etc.

If you want to turn off the password for the firmware, just follow the detailed steps above, but in step 5, click 'Turn Off Firmware Password' . Obviously you will need to re-enter the password before turning it off, so if you have forgotten your password, this will not work. Therefore, you should record the password in a safe place to backup in case you forget it.

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If you find this method helpful to secure your Mac and data, please let us know in the comment section below!

Hope you are succesful.