I used Migration Assistant and I thought it worked but it seems I have migrated the old system to my new computer so I now see the old and new computer in the Finder. I must have selected Rename rather than Replace and so now I have the old and new accounts How can I remove the old account? Should I delete everything from the new computer and start again or is there another way?
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.7
The user account is provided to simply identify a specific user. Different accounts/users may then have different levels of access to things or have the ability to delete or add things. And each user can have their own computer access password. It may be the same or different. You set it up to allow a specific user to be automatically entered or you can have a requirement for a password to be entered at startup and you will, of course, select which user is signing in. You would open System Settings to set this up.
That is how you can delete the other accounts you don't want.
The user account is provided to simply identify a specific user. Different accounts/users may then have different levels of access to things or have the ability to delete or add things. And each user can have their own computer access password. It may be the same or different. You set it up to allow a specific user to be automatically entered or you can have a requirement for a password to be entered at startup and you will, of course, select which user is signing in. You would open System Settings to set this up.
That is how you can delete the other accounts you don't want.
The " Owner Account of this computer " has that privilege to add, remove, upgrade or downgrade accounts. This would include adding more Admin Accounts and / or downgrading an ADDED Admin account
Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac
Normally the " Owner Account " is the very first Account used when the Computer was Very First Setup as New and out of the box.
Adding additional Admin Account can be done there after.
Hidden_World-1 wrote:
I looked up Users & Groups in System Settings and there is one active user and that is me. There is a Guest shown and that is turned off. But in Finder, I see two locations - MacBook Pro (2024), the new computer and Macintosh HD. Both show Applications, Library, Systems, and Users. Perhaps this is normal but the amount of HD disk space consumed is more than the original 2TB of the old computer (2.44 TB). The old computer has 1.7 TB of its 2 TB.
If Used Space is the Real Issue
Manage Storage
The final word from Apple on Managing the " System Data “ Category
Other / System Data: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins.
You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac.
There are areas of the Operating System which we users have control over and that is the User Account Folder ( Home Folder )
All other areas are not accessible
It is generally a good computer practice to alway keep at least 20% to 25% of the Total Drive Capacity’s as Empty Space. Allowing the computer to drop below these guidelines may eventually, cause unintended consequences.
There is Purgeable Space and there is Empty Space.
Purgeable Space which is Controlled by the Operating System. When the Operating Systems decides the computer needs additional Empty Space, it will move a portion of the Purgeable to Empty space
AFAIK - there is no User Actions to hasten this transition from Purgeable to Empty Space
It can day or longer before this will occur.
The links below will assist in identifying what is taking up space on the Internal Drive and provide possible ways to remove data that is under the direct control of the User ( Home Folder ) .
Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac
What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?
Free up storage space on your Mac
How to delete Time Machine snapshots on your Mac.
View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support (CA)
Often caused if the Time Machine Drive has not been attached to the computer and TM Backup is set to run on a Schedule.
TM Backup will make Snap Shot on the Internal Drive awaiting the TM Backup Drive to be attached.
Only then will the Snaps Shots be transferred to the External Drive and deleted the Internal Drive.
See used and available storage space on your Mac
Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Is there a Suite of Adobe Applications used on this computer ?
They may create some very large cache files that can be removed. Though, the Adobe cache files will be recreated as the Applications needs them.
https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/premiere-pro/kb/clear-cache.html
It maybe possible to Delete a user or group on Mac
Just be absolutely certain to read and understand All the information in the link Before moving forwards
When you begin setting up the new computer you must also create a user account. Then Migration Assistant will also transfer any existing accounts in the old computer if you have selected the transfer of your preferences, etc. Once everything is completed you then have the option of deleting any accounts you wish not to keep. This is how it works.
I looked up Users & Groups in System Settings and there is one active user and that is me. There is a Guest shown and that is turned off. But in Finder, I see two locations - MacBook Pro (2024), the new computer and Macintosh HD. Both show Applications, Library, Systems, and Users. Perhaps this is normal but the amount of HD disk space consumed is more than the original 2TB of the old computer (2.44 TB). The old computer has 1.7 TB of its 2 TB.
Thank you for your advice. However, I am still unsure whether or not I have duplicate accounts that would account for the larger use of hard drive space on the new computer compared to the old computer. And if I do, how can I delete one so as not to waste HD space.
The user ( you ) would know if looking in Users & Groups
Refer to image below
Notice there is Only 1 User account and a Guest User Account that I have chosen to switch OFF
User wrote " I looked up Users & Groups in System Settings and there is one active user and that is me. There is a Guest shown and that is turned off. "
Finder view
How do I delete the old account and all the data associated with it? Another comment from the Apple Community talked about Users and Groups - are they the same as an account?
How do I delete the old account?
That specific information is provided in the previous link from PRP_53 me👍
Issue with migrating data from old MacBook Pro to new MacBook Pro
