Changed user name, but old name appears under "Sharing & Permissions"

Hi,

I migrated to a new Mac Mini from an iMac. But the migrated Admin User account was named "(firstname's)iMac"


Well I couldn't go on with my life with a Mac Mini called "iMac"!


So I used the Apple instructions for changing my Admin's user name. It worked fine, The new Mac Mini has the new name- everything works - and all appeared fine... except...!


When I "Get Info" for any file, folder, or drive, the Admin name under "Sharing & Permissions" shows the OLD name: "iMac (Me)"


I changed the name of the computer in sys pref under "Sharing".


So I'm not sure what to do. The computer works, but I am annoyed and slightly worried that it still uses the old name under every "sharing & permissions" window.


Any idea how I can force the new name out to all the files, folders and drives?


Thanks!



Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Feb 3, 2019 2:33 PM

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16 replies

Feb 4, 2019 4:59 PM in response to Joel Pro

The computer name in Sharing has nothing do do with a user account name except the Startup Assistant uses that name to create the first computer name. Changing one or the other has no effect on the other.


Changing your user account name will also not change the ownership of the files in the account.


Files within your home should be owned by your user, there shouldn't be any Group associated with the files, and everyone should be no access.


You may have to resort to this: Resolve issues caused by changing the permissions of items in your home folder - Apple Support

Feb 8, 2019 10:05 AM in response to Joel Pro

So, just to make sure I understand the "problem" you're trying to resolve:


In the "Sharing" System Preferences, the name listed in the "Users" column is the "iMac" name and not the "mini" name? ]


I think this is really just a cosmetic thing, and not a real problem. I am guessing that when you had sharing first setup (when you were on the iMac) that the iMac user name got saved in a sharing preference plist file, rather than a userid number. Since the way you did the username change didn't really change the userid value, that's why there is no real problem. This is just a guess, as only Apple can likely explain the "why" in this case.


However, if you would like things to reflect the real state of your Mini system now, you could remove the old "iMac" name from the list of users in Sharing and then add the "Mini" username. Just highlight the "iMac" username and click the minus icon below and then click the "plus" icon to add the "Mini" username


Good luck...

Feb 4, 2019 4:16 PM in response to BDAqua

RDoes what work in the new account?


Everythjng functions. The problem is just that the name under “sharing & privileges” is different than the user name. It appears to be a cosmetic issue, since I can save files and copy them.


i tried “repairing permissions” hoping that would reset the visible name but it didn’t.


I can go to the effort of creating a new account, but Im not sure what I’m looking for if I do that.

Feb 6, 2019 6:37 AM in response to Barney-15E

I get that the sharing name and user name are unrelated.


But that's not what I'm talking about.


I "own" all my files to the extent that I can open, edit save - the computer works fine.


I am only noticing that the NAME listed as "(Me)" Under Privileges is different than my username. It just seems weird. It's a name that exists nowhere else in my new computer.



Feb 7, 2019 8:52 AM in response to Barney-15E

Are you sure the Mac wasn't an "open box" or otherwise used previously?

Otherwise, I don't know why it would have a different name.

Yes I'm sure.

The reason it has a different name is, as I've written a couple times, I changed the name. But it did not keep the shortname. It changed the home folder and the long name, but not the short name. And now the short name is greyed out in the field where I could otherwise change it.

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Changed user name, but old name appears under "Sharing & Permissions"

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