Guest user did appear, but can't be deleted...

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Level 1

11 points

Guest user did appear, but can't be deleted...

Hello,

i have a MacBook Pro 2016, running High Sierra.

However from one day to another the deactivated guest user appeared on my login window, but wasn't activated in the "USERS" menu. Can anybody help me how I can delete or deactivate the guest user?

MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, macOS High Sierra (10.13)

Posted on Oct 8, 2017 6:27 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

2000CAD

Level 4

1,617 points

Oct 8, 2017 7:13 PM in response to Lucalotz

Hey! Here are a few options you could try.

down

Step 1. Turn off the Guest User

Go to System Preferences - Users & Groups
Unlock all options using the lock on the bottom left
Click on the Guest User and make sure all options are off
If all options were off, enable Allow guests to log in to this computer
Then click on your primary username, then go back to the Guest User and turn off all options again. The Users & Groups dialog is really buggy. It might even automatically check Enable parental controls for no reason.
Before you close the dialog, make sure that all checkboxes are unchecked and that the description of the Guest User says Off.

Step 2. Turn off all Sharing options/services (for now)

Go to System Preferences - Sharing
Uncheck all sharing options/services

Step 3. Disable iCloud Find My Mac (for now)

Go to System Preferences - iCloud
Scroll down the list, and uncheck Find My Mac

Step 4. Manually delete the Guest account

Open up a terminal, and execute the following command:
```
sudo dscl . delete /Users/Guest
```
Check that there is no user Guest anymore with:
```
dscl . list /Users
```

Step 5. Reboot

Make sure that all dialogs are closed
Reboot

If you are lucky, your guest account is gone!
If not, retry step 4 (the dscl command) and reboot again.

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Answer 2

Lucalotz Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 8, 2017 6:49 PM in response to 2000CAD

Hi,

thanks for your reply, i already managed to do this, but it‘s deactivated already.

I know it cant access data, but at the login screen i‘d just like to enter the password as usual and no need to choose the right user.

Also there seems to be an error, cause the guestuser has the same picture as i do but fragmented.

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Answer 3

2000CAD

Level 4

1,617 points

Oct 8, 2017 6:34 PM in response to Lucalotz

Hey! Thanks for reaching out.

To deactivate the guest mode, follow the procedure below.

Open System Preferences > Users and Groups

Click on the lock and enter your password to enable changes

Click on Guest User, Uncheck 'Allow Guests to log in to this computer'

Click on Login Options and set Display login window as * Name and Password.

Click on the lock to save changes.

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Answer 4

Rysz

Level 8

44,391 points

Oct 8, 2017 6:37 PM in response to Lucalotz

The Guest User account is created by macOS. It’s a severely limited account with no access to any documents and can’t even save files. It’s safe to leave it there. If you delete it from Users & Groups, it will be created again when you install macOS.

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