Mac stuck on an unusually long “Try again in” timer after Remote LockSolved

Participant
Discussion
10 hours ago Oct 05, 2026

Hi,  

I recently set a Remote Lock to a Mac, and the device was locked successfully. The Mac was left unused for some time, and its battery eventually drained completely. When the device is powered on again the lock screen is now showing “Try again in 26,501,678 minutes”. The user is unable to access the Mac 

Why is this happening and is there a way to get the Mac unlocked? 

Replies (1)

Marked SolutionPending Review
Hexnode Expert
9 hours ago Oct 05, 2026
Marked SolutionPending Review

Hi @marien, 

I understand the issue you’ve encountered.  

When a locked Mac powers back on after its battery has completely drained, its internal system clock can reset to Epoch time (00:00:00 UTC, January 1, 1970). Because the Mac is still locked, it cannot automatically connect to Wi-Fi and synchronize its date and time with Apple’s Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers. As a result, macOS calculates the lockout period incorrectly, causing the “Try again in” timer to display an unusually large value. This lockout is not controlled by Hexnode UEM. 

To recover the Mac 

  1. Connect the locked Mac to a wired Ethernet connection. 

  1. Leave it connected for 10-15 minutes so that the system clock can synchronize with Apple’s NTP servers. 

  1. Restart the Mac. Once it starts up again, the lockout timer will be cleared. 

  1. Enter the 6-digit PIN used for the Remote Lock, which can be retrieved from Action History in Hexnode UEM. 

Please try the above steps to recover the Mac. If you continue to face any issues, feel free to reach out.

Regards,

Lara Welsh

Hexnode UEM

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