I was unable to unlock my System Preferences using my password. And my password was working fine for doing sudo or logging in to the computer.
I tried two solutions found on the Internet.
Regenerating auth.db file.
The first one that didn't work for me was to regenerate the auth.db file from /System/Library/Security/authorization.plist.
From your terminal execute
cd /var/db
sudo mv auth.db auth.db.bak
Reset SMC (System Management Controller) of your Mac
Before resetting SMC try:
- Shut down your Mac.
- Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds, then release the button.
- Wait a few seconds, then press the power button to turn on your Mac.
If the issue persists, follow these steps to reset the SMC:
To reset your SMC:
- Shut down your Mac.
- On your built-in keyboard, press and hold all of these keys:
- Shift on the left side of your keyboard
- Control on the left side of your keyboard
- Option (Alt) on the left side of your keyboard
- While holding all three keys, press and hold the power button as well. Notebook keyboard with all 4 keys pressed
- Keep holding all four keys for 10 seconds.
- Release all keys, then press the power button to turn on your Mac.
I hope that everything works now. With these solutions I was able to unlock my System Preferences again.