Is your M1 Mac is stuck at the 'create a computer account' screen after a fresh install? Calm down, there is a way to fix your Mac right now.
You Can Fix Your M1 Mac if it's Stuck at the 'Create a Computer Account' Screen
The other day my M1 MacBook Pro decided to never ever let me create a new computer account after performing a clean installation of macOS Big Sur. It simply hit me back with a 'account already exists' error and there was no way of getting around it at all. Tried reinstalling macOS several times along with a complete disk erase, but nothing happened.
But, thankfully, there is a fix for this and it involves doing a clean install from scratch with a few things done differently. Yes, you will be going through the pain of downloading the OS over the air, but in the end, it is entirely worth it.
Courtesy of StackExchange, here's how the whole thing goes. Read carefully before you attempt it yourself.
- First and foremost, shut down your Mac entirely by pressing and holding the power button
- Remove your Mac from iCloud using your iPhone or iPad. You can do it from: appleid.apple.com
- Hold down the power button on your Mac until the Options icon shows up, click on it when it does
- Once Options has loaded up, open a new Terminal window from the menu bar
- Type in the following command: resetpassword
- You will now see a reset password box - don't do anything with it. Instead, launch Recovery Utilities from the menu bar and then click on Erase Mac and follow the on-screen steps to erase it
- Once everything has been erased, you will be taken back to the recovery screen from where you can simply reinstall macOS from scratch
The magic part of the whole thing? Once you start to create your computer account, it will go through absolutely swiftly, just like how it should in the first place.
Why this problem happens in the first place makes no sense. But we are glad that there is a fix for this. Alternatively, if you have a second Mac with you, you have the option of using Configurator 2 to revive it properly. But the steps mentioned above allows you to skip having a second Mac completely.
About the author: Uzair has been writing about tech for a little under 10 years. Started off in the Symbian days, migrated to Android, eventually settling on iOS and Mac to make a living. Loves photography, drones, talking about the latest tech, and firmly believes that iPad is the future of computing. Served as Editor-in-Chief with Redmond Pie for five years, author at The Readers Eye and many other freelance gigs. Wccftech is now his current home.
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