Cliffo88

Q: Can't remove Google account from Mac

This is 2 possibly connected issues.

 

I have iCloud logged into the Mac.

 

I have a google account that I signed into in system pref - internet accounts, and I use it in Mail.

 

Basically I no longer want this account on the Mac at all.

 

When I delete the account from mail, it comes back a few minutes later.

 

when I remove the account from Internet accounts, it come back a few minutes later.

 

When I open iPhoto and choose to switch on icloud, it freezes/slows down. When I look in the iPhoto preferences, it has the google account listed under 'accounts' - I press the minus to remove it, nothing happens.

 

On the iCloud tab in iPhoto Prefs I press the ticks and nothing happens there either.

 

I made a new account on the computer and logged into it, switched on icloud in iPhoto and it works fine.

 

How do I remove this Google account? driving me nuts.

Mac mini, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Jan 15, 2014 2:57 AM

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Q: Can't remove Google account from Mac

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  • by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jan 15, 2014 12:37 PM in response to Cliffo88
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    Jan 15, 2014 12:37 PM in response to Cliffo88

    If you're having trouble making changes to files that are inside your home folder (represented by a house icon in the sidebar of a Finder window), or if you can't get changes to the settings of an application to stick, then please see below.

    Back up all data.

    This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership and access-control lists to the default. If you've set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it.

    I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.

    Step 1

    If you have more than one user account, and the one in question is not an administrator account, then temporarily promote it to administrator status in the Users & Groups preference pane. To do that, unlock the preference pane using the credentials of an administrator, check the box marked Allow user to administer this computer, then reboot. You can demote the problem account back to standard status when this step has been completed.

    Triple-click anywhere in the following line on this page to select it:

    { sudo chflags -R nouchg,nouappnd ~ $TMPDIR..; sudo chown -R $UID:staff ~ $_; sudo chmod -R u+rwX ~ $_; chmod -R -N ~ $_; } 2>&-

     

    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

    Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.

    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.

    You'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

    The command may take a few minutes to run, or perhaps longer if you have literally millions of files in your home folder. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear, then quit Terminal.

    Step 2 (optional)

    Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1 or if it doesn't solve the problem.

    Boot into Recovery. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select

    Utilities Terminal

    from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open.

    In the Terminal window, type this:

    res

    Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:

    resetpassword

    Press return. A Reset Password dialog will open. You’re not going to reset a password.

    In the dialog, select the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if it's not already selected.

    Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if it's not already selected.

    Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.

    Select

    Restart

    from the menu bar.

  • by Cliffo88,

    Cliffo88 Cliffo88 Jan 16, 2014 2:48 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2014 2:48 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Step 1 has done the trick it seems, thanks so much!

  • by David Boroditsky,

    David Boroditsky David Boroditsky Sep 29, 2015 11:24 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 3 (869 points)
    Sep 29, 2015 11:24 AM in response to Linc Davis

    I have 3 old google accounts that keep re-appearing on just one of the 4 macs that use my icloud account. They are all running 10.10.5, and I have followed all of these steps and the 3 accounts keep re-appearing.