macOS support: user accounts, FileVault and system settings
For service desk, desktop support and MSP technicians who support Macs in a business. You should already be comfortable using a Mac and System Settings; experience with an MDM such as Jamf or Intune helps but isn't required. The course covers choosing account types, what secure token, volume ownership and bootstrap token mean for support work, turning on and verifying FileVault and its recovery options, helping a user who has forgotten their login password, and finding the Privacy & Security, Login Items and Software Update settings behind common tickets. Based on Apple's Platform Deployment guide and Mac User Guide for current macOS; menu names can differ on older versions. Ends with a supervisor-graded handover check of a Mac.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 85 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Choose the right account type (administrator, standard, sharing only or guest) for a user and set it in Users & Groups
- Explain secure token, volume ownership and bootstrap token, and check their status from Terminal
- Turn on or verify FileVault and choose a recovery method the business can actually use
- Choose the right way to restore access when a user forgets their Mac login password
- Find and change the Privacy & Security, Login Items and Software Update settings behind common tickets
Course outline
- 1.Choose the right account type for each userLesson · 14 min
- 2.Explain secure token, volume ownership and bootstrap tokenLesson · 16 min
- 3.Turn on or verify FileVault and choose a recovery methodLesson · 17 min
- 4.Restore access when a user forgets their login passwordLesson · 14 min
- 5.Find and change the settings behind common Mac ticketsLesson · 10 min
- 6.macOS support: user accounts, FileVault and system settings: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.macOS support: user accounts, FileVault and system settings: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- Apple Mac User Guide: Change Users & Groups settings on Mac (account types and the automatic login warning)
- Apple Platform Deployment: Use secure token, bootstrap token, and volume ownership in deployments
- Apple Platform Deployment: Intro to FileVault
- Apple Platform Deployment: Manage FileVault with device management (deferred enablement, recovery key escrow and rotation)
- Apple Mac User Guide: Protect data on your Mac with FileVault
- Apple Support: If you forgot your Mac login password
- Apple Mac User Guide: Change Privacy & Security settings on Mac
- Apple Mac User Guide: Change Login Items & Extensions settings on Mac
- Apple Support: Update macOS on Mac
See it with your own jobs and topics
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