Deleting a user on iMac

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Level 1

4 points

Deleting a user on iMac

Can't delete myself as a standard 'user' on a 2015 iMac. Signed in with Administrator's credentials (iMac owner) and password. Opened preferences, opened users and groups, unlocked screen, selected my id, selected minus sign to delete, typed in correct id. Get a message password is wrong. Will not let me go beyond that point.

Trying to strip down the computer so owner can give it to his niece. Owner has purchased a new iMac.

Concerned if I strip down the machine and reinstall the operating system without deleting myself as a user, both his iCloud account and mine may be corrupted or deleted??

How should I move forward with this task?

iMac 21.5″, 12.2

Posted on Mar 20, 2022 7:19 AM

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Answer 1

den.thed

Level 10

82,540 points

Mar 20, 2022 9:58 AM in response to oldman-75

Connect the iMac to the internet using an Ethernet cable and start up in macOS Recovery Mode.

Follow the Erase steps at > Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support

Then go back to Utilities and install macOS as per > How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

After that, give it to the owners nice and have her set-up the iMac using her own info and ID.

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

82,540 points

Mar 20, 2022 7:30 AM in response to oldman-75

Please follow each step at > What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 3

oldman-75 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 20, 2022 9:07 AM in response to den.thed

Thank you for the information link in your reply.

I followed all the instructions.

When I boot the computer now I have a black screen with small file folder icon with a question mark on it

and "support.apple.com/mac/startup" captioned below it.

The screen is frozen with this display.

Not sure what to do now.

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Answer 4

oldman-75 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 20, 2022 12:38 PM in response to den.thed

Thanks again for the info.

Hit another snag ... probably because I'm old and not very computer savvy.

I had already run the Disk Utility to erase the Intel-base Mac earlier.

However I did go to that process sequence again once I was in the Recovery Mode. The first time I was instructed to erase Name: Macintosh HD, Format: APFS. I did that. What now shows under 'Internal' is APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E662 Media. It appears to be the Internal Physical Disk. Do I select it to erase and move on to the reinstall?

If I go directly to the reinstall process it opens an OS X El Capitan banner and then asks me to agree to terms of service. When I do that it opens a screen that displays OS X El Capitan and displays a functional 'back' button and a non-highlighted 'Install' button (which is not functional). I'm basically stalled at that point again.

Am I doing something wrong?

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Answer 5

den.thed

Level 10

82,540 points

Mar 20, 2022 2:12 PM in response to oldman-75

Yes you need to erase and format the HTS541010A9E662 disk and then reinstall macOS.

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Deleting a user on iMac

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