I logged out of my Macbook (pro 2019, Catalina) then after mistyping my password, accidentally hit the “recover password” button (or something along those lines, can’t remember). I do remember my password, so that’s not the issue.
My Macbook then rebooted and took me to a black screen with a grey lock and a password prompt (which I learned was the firmware password page). I don’t remember ever setting a firmware password.
I tried my regular login password, which didn’t work. I also tried any other password I could think of. None worked. I tried booting into recovery mode with command+r, but I still get the same screen.
I think the issue could be that my Macbook is trying to boot into recovery mode (because I accidentally clicked to recover my password), but recovery mode requires the firmware password. And now I can’t get it to boot normally, without recovery mode. I tried following these steps, but I always get the lockscreen.
Is there a way to go back to how it was before, with the normal login screen (with my known password)?
Best Answer
As you have already attempted the known ways of changing startup disk, it seems that the firmware password is necessary in order to proceed. However, there's no publically known way of bypassing the firmware password.
You can however take the device to an Apple Store along with proof of ownership, and they will unlock the firmware password for you. If you do not live near an Apple Store, call Apple and they can probably arrange mail-in repair or similar.
If it is a company device and you haven't got proof of ownership, you'll need to go through your employer. Most probably they will know the firmware password, and can proceed without having to contact Apple.
In some cases, managed devices (i.e. company issued laptops) can be set to require special access in order to do things that could circumvent managed device restrictions - such as for example trying to boot from a different partition. This could quite possibly be what you have run into. In this case you'll need to contact your employer to get it fixed.