Before you reset your Apple ID password

Before you go about resetting or changing your Apple ID password, it’s important to have all the necessary information for the process. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Email address: Make sure you have access to the email address that you’ve used with your Apple ID.

• Security questions: Have answers ready to any security questions if required.

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA): If you’ve enabled MFA, ensure you have access to the trusted device or phone number.

• Recovery email or phone number: If you’ve set up a recovery email or phone number, ensure you can access it.

On top of that, it is also crucial to note that Apple has a set of specific requirements for passwords, including:

• A password has to be at least eight characters long.

• A password must include a number.

• A password must include both uppercase and lowercase letters.

How to reset your Apple ID password on iPhone and iPad

1. Go to “Settings” and tap on your name.

2. Select “Sign-In & Security.”

3. Tap “Change password.”

4. Enter your device’s passcode. Then, enter your new password and confirm it.

5. Tap “Change” or “Change Password.”

How to reset your Apple ID password on a Mac

1. Click on Apple’s logo at the top left of your screen.

2. Select “System Preferences” and click on your name.

3. On the left, select “Sign-In & Security.”

4. In the next window, select “Change password.”

5. You will need to enter your device’s password.

6. You will be able to enter your new password in the next window. Then, select “Change” and “Done.”

How to reset your Apple ID password online

1. Go to appleid.apple.com

2. Click “Sign in” and select “Forgot password?”

3. Enter your email address or phone number, enter the CAPTCHA code, and click “Continue.”

4. You will receive a prompt to change your password on one of your Apple devices.

If you don’t have the device with you, you will have to either answer security questions or confirm your identity via email. If you are unable to do that, you will be asked to enter the 2FA recovery key to reset your password. You can create a new password only after you’ve confirmed your identity.

How to reset your Apple ID on a new device

1. During the setup of a new Apple device, you will be asked to enter your Apple ID.

2. Select “Forgot password or don’t have an Apple ID?”

3. Finish the setup of a new device.

4. As soon as the setup is complete, select an app that requires you to sign in to your Apple ID. On iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, you can simply select Messages. On a Mac, follow the instructions above.

What to do if the standard Apple ID reset methods haven’t worked for you

In case the outlined methods for resetting or changing your Apple ID password don’t work for you, there are still a few alternative strategies you can try. These methods can help you recover your account and regain access to all your Apple devices and services.

• Check for devices already signed in with your Apple ID: If you have other Apple devices already signed in with your Apple ID, you can use one of those devices to reset your password. This can often be the quickest solution since it allows you to bypass additional verification steps.

• Use recovery information: When setting up your Apple ID, you may have provided a recovery email address or phone number. If so, Apple can send you a verification code or reset link to help you regain access to your account.

• Contact Apple Support: If you’ve tried the above methods without success, reaching out to Apple Support is your next best option. Apple Support can assist you in verifying your identity and recovering your account. While this might take a bit more time, it’s a reliable way to resolve the issue.

Best practices for managing and securing your passwords

To avoid the frustration of forgetting your Apple ID password in the future, we highly recommend adopting strong password management practices.

Create strong, complex passwords

Whenever you’re creating a password for a website, app, or service, remember that a strong password is a password that’s at least eight characters long and includes a healthy mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, as well as special characters. During password creation, it is also important to avoid using any easily guessable information such as your name or birthdate. If you’re looking for inspiration and practical tips for creating a strong and complex password, check out our Five Strong Password Ideas post.

Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Beyond strong passwords, enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) can further secure your accounts. MFA provides an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of verification in addition to the traditional username and password combination. This could be a code sent to your phone, a biometric scan, or a prompt on a trusted device.

Use a password manager

Finally, managing multiple strong passwords can be challenging and quite frustrating. This is where a password manager like NordPass can come in handy. NordPass simplifies password management and life online in general by offering a single secure place to safely store it all: passwords, passkeys, credit cards, personal information, secure notes, and more. On top of that, NordPass is designed to automatically save and fill in your credentials when you need to log in, saving you time and reducing the risk of password fatigue. NordPass for iOS even allows you to sync your passwords across all your devices, ensuring you have access to your digital valuables whenever, wherever. Even when you’re offline.

Start using passkeys instead of passwords

Passkeys are a new, convenient, and phishing-resistant way to sign up for and access apps, websites, and other various online services. In essence, a passkey is a digital login credential that uses your device—be it a phone, laptop, tablet, or desktop—to authenticate you instead of a traditional combination of a username and password. Cybersecurity experts see passkeys as the future of authentication technology, which will inevitably replace passwords. Tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, and Apple already allow users to opt for passkey-based authentication on their services. If you want to take your access security to the next level, we highly advise moving toward passkey-based authentication. To learn the ins and outs of setting up and using passkeys on your Apple devices, be sure to check out our latest blog entry on that exact topic.

By adopting these practices into your routine, you’ll significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access to your accounts and minimize the stress of managing multiple passwords. Not only will your Apple ID be more secure, but you’ll also have the peace of mind of knowing that all your online accounts are protected.

So, whether in your personal life or business, every activity involves some level of risk, and you just have to consider it. Of course, the bigger the potential reward or value of your aim, the greater the risk usually is. Nevertheless, the main takeaway is that, regardless of the risk’s scale, it is unavoidable.

The key, then, is to learn how to manage and minimize the risks commonly associated with the activities you perform by first recognizing that these risks even exist and then understanding their magnitude. This is where the concept of inherent risk comes into play.

What is inherent risk?

In basic terms, inherent risk is the natural risk associated with any process or activity before you add any controls or safety measures. So, to measure inherent risk is to assess how risky something is on its own, without any safety nets in place. Once you recognize the scale of a given inherent risk, you can then determine how much you can reduce that risk with the appropriate controls, policies, and resources.

To measure inherent risk, an organization needs to go through a thorough process that involves risk identification (discovering activities that could pose risks) and risk evaluation (determining how serious the potential impact could be), examining the risks in their raw form. Once you’ve established this baseline, you can decide where to add new controls and policies to manage the inherent risks effectively.

Does the term “inherent audit risk” ring a bell?

If so, that’s because inherent risk is one of the key components of overall audit risk. Audit risk is a term that usually refers to the risk that the company’s financial statements can be materially misstated and the auditor fails to detect these misstatements, leading to a misleading audit opinion. Audit risk consists of three elements:

• Detection risk: The risk that the auditor’s procedures will fail to identify a mistake in the financial statements.

• Control risk: The risk that the company’s own controls won’t identify or prevent mistakes in its financial statements.

• Inherent risk: The risk of mistakes caused by the nature of the business or industry before any controls are put to use.

Knowing about these risks helps auditors plan and carry out their work more effectively, so they can give a trustworthy opinion on the company’s financial statements.

Which industries have high inherent risk?

Generally speaking, industries that are heavily regulated tend to face higher inherent risks. For example, the financial services sector is quite exposed due to its need to navigate market fluctuations, regulatory compliance, and cybersecurity threats. Similarly, the oil and gas industry contends with environmental regulations, geopolitical uncertainties, and various operational hazards. The IT and cybersecurity sector also grapples with rapid technological changes, intellectual property issues, and persistent cybersecurity threats.

But it’s not just these high-profile sectors. Most industries, whether it’s agriculture, travel, healthcare, or any other field, deal with their own sets of inherent risks. What’s important is to recognize these risks in your daily processes and have strategies in place to address them effectively.

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Inherent risk vs. residual risk

There’s another key term in risk management that pairs with inherent risk—think of it as the yang to inherent risk’s yin—and that’s residual risk. Simply put, residual risk is the level of risk that remains after you’ve applied controls or mitigating measures. In other words, it helps you gauge how much of the inherent risk you’ve reduced or eliminated, and how much is still left to address.

So, to sum it up quickly, inherent risk is the natural level of risk before you do anything to prevent it, while residual risk is what’s left after you’ve taken steps to manage the inherent risk.

Popular inherent risk examples

Risk is part of almost everything we do, so the examples of inherent risk are practically endless. But when it comes to managing risk in a business setting, there are a few key areas that really stand out. Here are some important ones to keep an eye on:

• Insufficient audit processes: Without thorough audits, companies may fail to identify internal weaknesses or compliance issues, putting their whole operation at risk.

• Security incidents caused by human error: Mistakes made by employees, such as mishandling sensitive data or falling for phishing scams, can lead to significant security breaches, resulting in financial losses and damage to the company’s reputation.

• Management’s failure to uphold operational standards: Without the right processes from management, things can get pretty disorganized. This often leads to poor-quality work, reduced productivity, and non-compliance with industry regulations.

• Financial interactions between related businesses: The value of an asset in financial transactions between related parties, like subsidiaries or affiliates, might be reported incorrectly, leading to financial discrepancies and compliance issues.

All online activities are inherently risky

No matter what you do online, there’s always some risk involved. This is especially important for businesses to keep in mind. When you’re running a company with dozens or even hundreds of employees, all using company accounts and accessing company resources, you’re dealing with many different types of inherent risk. People make mistakes—they click on malicious links, use weak passwords, or share credentials in ways they shouldn’t (like on sticky notes or via email).

So, how can you mitigate such risks? One option is to use NordPass Enterprise. It’s more than just an encrypted password manager—it’s a cybersecurity solution that helps you manage access to company resources, enforce strong password policies across your organization, give your employees tools to securely share data, and even check if their information has been compromised in a data breach.

If you want to reduce the risks that come with modern business, give NordPass Business a try and see how it can enhance both your cybersecurity and productivity.

Why is Autofill so cool?

Nothing is more annoying than manually typing out online forms. Usually, when you sign up for an online service, you need to type out your username, password, personal information, and sometimes even your credit card details. If the website takes security seriously, it may also ask you to prove your identity with additional authentication methods. This is especially true when it comes to online shopping.

So, say you reach the final steps of purchase and you’re already pretty annoyed. Fortunately, Autofill effectively deals with the nuisance of filling out online forms, making it a smooth and seamless experience.

Powered by machine learning, Autofill constantly evolves and adapts, accurately identifying and filling fields in various forms, including sign-ups, logins, credit card details, and personal information. This ensures Autofill remains highly reliable, aiming to deliver perfect accuracy over time.

Pro tips: How to make the most of Autofill

Log in with a single click

Thanks to the Instant Login feature on desktop, NordPass allows you to skip all the annoying steps required to log in to a chosen website: landing on the page, selecting credentials, and performing on-page actions. Now, a single click is all it takes. All you have to do is follow a prompt to log in with NordPass.

If you choose not to log in using the Autofill feature, you’ll be asked if you want to enable it for future access to the website. Choose yes to ensure an effortless login experience. Alternatively, you can leave it disabled or even turn Instant Login off altogether in the NordPass settings section.

If you have multiple accounts on the website, select the account you want to use first. In such a case — let’s be honest — logging in with Instant login takes two clicks.

Autofill all credit card details and personal information

Some websites require additional information to authenticate the user or confirm transactions. You may know the case from Amazon asking for an ID to verify your address or an online shop requiring a billing address or security questions regarding your company credit card. We salute every solution that enhances your online security, but looking for and writing down all these additional details can be quite annoying.

Luckily, the Custom Field feature — previously available with password items — is now expanded to credit cards, personal information, and secure notes on desktop and Android devices. NordPass will autofill the data from custom fields added to your items. This way, you won’t have to look for your ID or credit card (if you even have it in a physical form, which is not always the case with business cards) whenever you want to buy something. Handy, right?

Bundle your websites or apps

Having separate password entries for apps from the same company, like Facebook and Messenger, even if you use the same credentials for all, can clutter your NordPass vault. It also takes extra time and effort to manage, especially with multi-domain websites like Microsoft that are frequently used at work.

At NordPass, we focus on the simplicity of use. That’s why we let you combine website addresses on your desktop, or app names on your mobile device, into a single password entry. This feature improves domain matching, making it easier to access your accounts across related domains. For example, NordPass can recognize microsoft.com and live.com as related, so you can access both without duplicating passwords. Instead of searching for each site individually, you’ll find the login details for login.live.com under “Microsoft,” and autofill will take care of the rest.

This feature, available on desktop and Android devices, helps simplify credential management. If you have multiple entries for related accounts with the same password item, you can merge them into one and delete the extras. Just be sure to manually remove the unnecessary entries.

Experience undisturbed flow

The best-in-class user experience takes constant improvements. Take a look at how Autofill makes accessing online accounts easier and quicker.

• Subdomain matching

The Subdomain Matching feature — available on desktop and Android devices — will prove invaluable if you use multiple subdomains at work (like department-specific sections of a company website). It’s designed to identify and autofill correct login information for each subdomain, ensuring a seamless access experience by removing the hassle of having to select from multiple login options every single time. You can enable or disable Subdomain Matching in the NordPass settings section according to your needs.

• Customizable autofill

You can adjust the autofill settings at any time by clicking the three dots in the autofill drop-down list. This allows you to choose a different item to autofill, search for the right one, or change how NordPass interacts with specific fields. Plus, you can use this feature to give direct feedback to the NordPass team.

• Disable autofill

To disable autofill on specific pages or fields, just right-click the input field and choose “Don’t autofill on this website” or “Don’t autofill this field.” This way, you can control when autofill is used, keeping your workflow smooth and uninterrupted.

What else to expect?

The Autofill may have already suggested using Email Masking or a Password Generator tool during the login process. Please note, that you can take advantage of both without leaving the page; NordPass will automatically save your new strong passwords as well as email masks.

On Desktop, we’ve introduced prompts to inform you in case you enter an unprotected website or log in with weak or reused passwords. The prompts can also warn you about breached websites to help you secure your accounts and resolve the breach on NordPass. However, if you don’t want to get these, you can now turn them off permanently in the “Notifications” settings section.