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How to change short name on Mavericks?

My OS X user account has an invalid shortname. Short names can only contain lowercase letters and an invalid shortname can cause many different problems for some apps.

Apple has a technote about how to change the shortname , but it is not working on my Mavericks.

Any help will be appreciated.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9), OS X Mavericks

Posted on Nov 9, 2013 8:42 PM

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4 replies

Nov 10, 2013 2:26 PM in response to bbergamin

Rename your current account to a Very different temporary name using the procedure you cited. For example, temp. Do not anguish over what it is, it will be temporary.


Check that it is working as desired, and you can log in and log out and access your files.

Check that all residue from the invalid name is gone.


Now change the name again, from temp to the name you desire in the long run.

Check that ist is working as desired.

Launch Keychain Access. Make sure you can access your LOGIN keychain. If not, create a new Login keychain. It is easy to add your passwords back to a new login keychain as you encounter the need for them.

Nov 10, 2013 7:07 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Many thanks Bennet,


It worked replacing user names instead renaming it as I couldn't change the account name for a user. Instead, I had to delete the user and create a new user with the new account name. I created a new admin user name (temp/temp) as you sugested. After that, I deleted my previous user name and recreate it with my name and account shortname ( the same ones that I had previously, but now in lower case). Then I delete the "temp" user name created before. Loging in and out after every change.


It was not possible for me to make this procedure without enabling the "root" user.

How to change short name on Mavericks?

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