Q: How to rename account name or home directory name in OSX 10.9.
After buying or getting a gift of a macbook that was used before, naturally we would change the user name and home directory of the macbook.
The following steps are focused on changing the home directory without the hassle of going into using the terminal.
- Rename user log in
- Rename the account name
- Rename home directory name
Rename user :
- Open System Preferences
- Click and open "Users and Groups"
- Click "Padlock" to make changes if locked
- Click on the "full name" to change user name
- The password can be changed in the same screen.
Rename account name and home directory name:
After changing the user name the account name and home directory name do not change automatically.
Follow the directions below, I've done this several times in different ways and the easiest answer came from a redditor 5HT-2a
Enable the System Administrator account.
To easily find it;
- Open Finder>Go>Go to Folder
- Paste that line
/System/Library/CoreServices/ click on go and find Directory Utility
- OSX Mavericks users use this
/System/Library/CoreServices/Directory Utility - OSX Yosemite
/System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/Directory Utility
In Directory Utility;
- Click the lock icon and enter your administrator password.
- Select Edit > Enable Root User.
- Create a new password for the Root User.
- Now, log out of your account. You'll see a new "Other" button in the login screen.
- Click that, enter
rootas the username, and enter the password you just created. This will log you into the System Administrator account.
Once logged in;
- Open the Users folder and go ahead and rename that folder.
- Next, navigate to the "Users & Groups" section of System Preferences.
- Right-click on your user account and select "Advanced Options." In the panel that pops up, go ahead and change "Account Name" and "Home directory" to the new desired one.
DONE!
Log out, then log into your normal account and make sure everything's still working.
Safety reasons!
You can disable the System Administrator account from Directory Utility.
MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), null
Posted on Feb 11, 2015 1:04 AM