Hi All,
My old employer had created a hidden user on my mac (per company policy). I have sice left the company and have tried to remove said user, however it requires a password, which i don't know...
sudo dscl . create /Users/FFFFEEEE-DDDD-CCCC-BBBB-AAAA000000C9 IsHidden 0
This is the cmd line that I have used, and I'm prompted then to enter a password which I dont know.
Any advice on how to remove the user would be appreciated.
MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.14
Backup your data with Time Machine, CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper, then erase and reinstall macOS.
see > How to erase a disk for Mac - Apple Support
and/or > What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support
Caution appreciated, you may not use any user you remove, but there are a few methods to remove any user that you want to remove without any password requirements. I stress those requirements, because as we all know, they are macOS security dependencies. That is, user activity, apps, and many other system features can alter requirements in ways that block any user removal method. So, there is no such thing as tried and true, except complete system replacement, though some networks will make that impossible too. Discouraged? Don't be.
One method is simple folder deletion. using administrator boot cycle, open Finder, press ⌘⇧. [that is, dot], so you can view hidden files. Locate the unwanted user folders and delete. If you don't see the user directory in usual Users folder, you will find it in System/Library/var folder and can wipe it out there. Now immediately cycle into Restore and reinstall macOS over-the-top so all your other User stuff is preserved. Tip: before you reinstall, use the Recovery environment's Disk Utility to run First Aid (you should always do that anyway).
Another simple but more extreme method is as suggested already, to Erase with Disk Utility, and then reinstall.
Hidden user - Unknown Password
