How does one restore default user account login icons?

Question

How does one restore default user account login icons?

Howdy - I seem to have lost the ability to select default icons for account logins. I have located the User Pictures folder with the .tif files on my mac (Macintosh HD ->Library-> User Pictures, and confirmed the files exist. I am unclear as to why they do not load under default selections when working within the Users & Groups of System Preferences. Instead, I see "No Items". Is there a simple way to restore them?

Thanks

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Feb 16, 2013 10:42 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,620 points

Feb 16, 2013 1:36 PM in response to grinningallday

Copy and paste this command into a Terminal window

sudo rm /Library/User\ Pictures/.DS_Store

It will ask for your admin password. Enter it, but you will not see anything on screen as you type.

The command removes the .DS_Store file from the User Pictures directory. Sudo temporarily elevates your privileges to allow you to delete the file.

That file stores the window display preferences. For some reason, it blocks you from seeing the user pictures. The file will be recreated, if needed. Mine hasn't ever returned.

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Answer 2

Feb 17, 2013 10:02 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thank you, Barney

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Answer 3

Feb 16, 2014 8:04 AM in response to Barney-15E

THANK YOU, Barney!

This worked for me. I didn't find your post right away, it took some careful searching! This was really annoying.

(note: I did have to log in with admin user account, but it fixed it for all users.)

THX!

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