mx3lee

Q: How do I merge two user accounts

When my husband and I set up our MacBook Pro (our first mac) we set up two separate user accounts. We now sometimes find it troublesome to move between two profiles to access different things. We now want to merge our user accounts and delete one. My account has all newly added music in iTunes, so we want to keep that as the primary account. However, over time I have been deleting some of his music from my iTunes, but saving it on the computer. He can access this music on his iTunes, but it doesn't show up on mine. Is there a way to add this all back into my iTunes without adding it folder by folder? Also, how should I proceed to further merge our accounts? Just deleting his account, but saving the info as a file seems really dicey and permanent.

 

We're currently running OS X Yosemite version 10.10.5.

MacBook, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Sep 30, 2016 9:58 AM

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Q: How do I merge two user accounts

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  • by mario49,

    mario49 mario49 Oct 1, 2016 2:00 PM in response to mx3lee
    Community Specialists
    Oct 1, 2016 2:00 PM in response to mx3lee
    Hey mx3lee,

    If I understand correctly, you have 2 user profiles one MacBook Pro and you want to move the data from one profile to the other. Since there is no option to click to merge the profiles, you can transfer the data from one to the other using the Public folder in the User's Home folder.
    1. Make sure that the sure the profile you are keeping is set as an administrator account since it will be the only one left. 
    2. Log into the profile you are taking the data from.
    3. Go to the menu bar while in Finder and select Go > Computer and a Finder window will open.
    4. In the Finder window open Macintosh HD and then open the Users folder and then open the User Account with the Home icon.
    5. In there is a Public folder with a folder named Drop Box inside. Any documents that you place in there will be accessible to your other user profile. 
    6. Move any documents you want to keep into that folder from the currently logged in Home folder. 
    Once you have all the data moved such as Music, Document, or Pictures you can sign out and into the profile you will keep and drag the contents to the desktop and order them accordingly. 


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