Can I rename the Home folder

I recently had my 15" MacBook Pro serviced because of a hard drive failure. It required that the operating system (OSX 10.7.3) be reinstalled. The reinstall was handled by the Best Buy Geek Squad store where I originally purchased the Mac. They named my home folder using only my first name in lower case letters. I would prefer my full name like my previous install.  DoI understand correctly that it is NOT possible to rename this folder? Would I have to reinstall Lion and wipe all the data to do this? Or is there a simple way to rename the folder.
Thanks in advance,
Anthony

Depending on whether your files are in that account or not, create a new one or open the Users & Groups pane of System Preferences, unlock it, control-click your account, choose Advanced Options, and change it.
(64837)

Similar Messages

  • Renaming the Home folder.....

    Hi Guys,
    How can I rename the home folder? Any idea?
    Thanks

    Don't let the earlier replies put you off; I've now done just that on two computers following the article referred to by macJack, with no problems whatever.
    I did however take the precaution of backing up to an external drive beforehand in case of finger trouble.
    Note that when creating the new user, you can use the same password, but the account name will have to be different. For instance if your full account name is John Smith, alter it slightly (to John J Smith for example) to create the new account. You can change it back after all's been checked and the old account deleted.

  • How can I share the home folder with different accounts on the same mac?

    Hi, here's a question:
    How can I share the home folder with different accounts on the same mac?
    The whole point being not to have to install all my apps, and move all my files each time between users.
    The second thing would be to be able to modify one document on one account, and have it changed on the other account without having to copy it.
    I would like to have a pro and a private account on my mac.
    Thanks for you answers,
    Doug

    Your apps should not be installed in your home folder--they should be in /Applications where every user can access them.
    If you want to share things between users on the same Mac, use the /Users/Shared folder. Keep your home folder private. Trying to defeat the protections on the home folder subfolders just gets messy. I've never bothered to figure out all of the problems associated with it so I can't explain how to do it.
    Even with using Shared, you would need to alter the ACLs on the shared folder in order to allow both users to modify the documents.
    You must create a Group in Users & Groups and put each user in that group. Then create a folder inside /Users/Shared where you want to share the various files.
    Then, add an ACL to the shared folder that gives the group special permissions. on that folder.
    sudo chmod -R +a "<sharinggroup> allow delete,chown,list,search,add_file,add_subdirectory,delete_child,file_inherit,directory_inherit" /Users/Shared/<sharing folder>
    Replace <sharinggroup> and <sharingfolder> with the name of your group and your folder. Then, run the command in the Terminal.
    With that ACL, each user in <sharinggroup> will be able to alter the files created by any user in the group in that <sharingfolder>.
    Essentially, the client OS is not designed for true file sharing among the individual users. It is designed to isolate each user account from the others.

  • HT1428 How do I revert settings from renaming the home folder?

    *PREFACE* I've read plenty of articles today on why NOT to attempt to rename the home folder.. This was done mistakenly by a friend attempting to help with my wifes macbook air.
    While they were able to rename the home folder, upon reboot, all system settings are gone, and she cannot access anything on the macbook air. Basically I need any help on how to go about restoring her air to the point before this incident occured, if that's possible (and I REALLY hope it is!!). We only had one user profile on the air, it was hers and is an admin account. When I try to access files on the HD now I get access denied messages. Based on what I've read, I thought if I could get to system preferences I could attempt to rename it back to the original name, reboot, and things would revert back, but when I click on system preferences, it bounces up, and then the light under it goes out.
    I own a time machine, and I have plenty of backup data there, I'm curious though of two things. 1st, how exactly do I go about this process, and 2nd, if I restore it, is it going to restore everything back to how it was before the rename happened, or would I have to do something else?
    On a scale of 1-5 in terms of knowledge, I'm about a 3. I'm faily new to Mac computing, but I own several other Mac products. I haven't had to replace my current PC laptop (yet, but its days are VERY numbered), but intend to go Mac from that point on. I hope all of this gives someone smarter than me enough information on what my situation is and hopefully how to solve it! Thanks!!

    Problem solved, time capsule worked!

  • I traded for a mac; how can I change the home folder name?

         Well I traded a PC for my first iMac and well...... I love it.
    1.  I'm running into a little problem though; I can't seem to change the home folder name to my name.  Although I know it doesn't affect any of the operation of the system or my settings, it psychologically upsets me. 
    2.  Also, is there a way to assign my Apple ID to the computer or does that not matter either? 
    3.  I also see a little lag when trying to connect to the web, but once I do get on it seems pretty beefy, any suggestable reasons? 
    4.  And the final question, did I make the right decision? I traded a Sony Vaio S series tablet (laptop/PC) with an Intel core i5 @ 2.30ghz for an iMac with an Intel Duo Core processor @ 3.06ghz. I've heard the numbers don't really matter but some clarification would help.

    Trying to address some of your questions:
    You state you are running Mountain Lion? Was that the original OS on the Mac? That is very important because:
    a) if it was, the seller/trader needed to transfer the Mountain Lion license to you or it will stay with his Apple ID;
    b) if he purchased ML, he is required to uninstall it before selling the machine because the license is not transferable, which means - again - that it is tied to his Apple ID (along with the machine ID).
    Both/either can present some problems for you since ML is now tied to someone else's Apple ID. If you manage to "introduce" your Apple ID, it will no longer match the records MAS (Mac App Store) has, so updates or other purchases may present problems.
    I would suggest that you either call Apple or book an appointment at the nearest Genius Bar and ask them how to proceed - that way you may be able to set up your own Apple ID on the machine as well as get ML registered as yours (although, as explained above, they may require you to purchase it for yourself).
    Whether or not you made the right decision - well, I've never owned a Windows machine, so I can't answer your question since I have nothing to compare it with. Obviously, I use Macs...... you should be able to run your own test: just do what you normally do and see if it appears to take about the same time, is faster, or is slower.

  • Can I change the Home Folder of users with Group Policy (or in another centralized way)?

    I know how to change the Home folder of users from AD Users & Computers -> their Properties -> Profile tab. But this is not very practical when one has users spread across many OUs, and with users being added and removed often.
    So I am wondering whether there is a way to do the same with a GPO. The closest thing I found was Folder Redirection, with which I can change the location of particular profile folders for each user, but not the location of the whole profile.
    Is there a way to redirect the entire location of users in a centralized way, using a GPO or some other mean?

    I would recommend reading that about the management of roaming profiles: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc784961(v=ws.10).aspx
    You can involve the use of Powershell scripts for the management of roaming profiles:
    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/12460.powershell-automate-roaming-profile-folder-permissions.aspx
    http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Check-if-an-AD-user-has-a-45ed5d1c
    This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.
    Get Active Directory User Last Logon
    Create an Active Directory test domain similar to the production one
    Management of test accounts in an Active Directory production domain - Part I
    Management of test accounts in an Active Directory production domain - Part II
    Management of test accounts in an Active Directory production domain - Part III
    Reset Active Directory user password

  • Can I share the home folder between 2 MacBook Pros?

    I have a mid 2009 15 in. MacBook Pro running OS X 10.9.4.
    I recently sucessfully moved my home folder to an external disk in order to increase the space on my hard drive.
    I am planning to acquire a 13 in. MacBook Pro with Retina display. I would like to have both computers use the same home folder. This would allow me to share all data files with both computers without having to move the data files about, although I could use only one or the other of the computers at a time.
    Does anyone know if this is possible? If not, why not?

    Your apps should not be installed in your home folder--they should be in /Applications where every user can access them.
    If you want to share things between users on the same Mac, use the /Users/Shared folder. Keep your home folder private. Trying to defeat the protections on the home folder subfolders just gets messy. I've never bothered to figure out all of the problems associated with it so I can't explain how to do it.
    Even with using Shared, you would need to alter the ACLs on the shared folder in order to allow both users to modify the documents.
    You must create a Group in Users & Groups and put each user in that group. Then create a folder inside /Users/Shared where you want to share the various files.
    Then, add an ACL to the shared folder that gives the group special permissions. on that folder.
    sudo chmod -R +a "<sharinggroup> allow delete,chown,list,search,add_file,add_subdirectory,delete_child,file_inherit,directory_inherit" /Users/Shared/<sharing folder>
    Replace <sharinggroup> and <sharingfolder> with the name of your group and your folder. Then, run the command in the Terminal.
    With that ACL, each user in <sharinggroup> will be able to alter the files created by any user in the group in that <sharingfolder>.
    Essentially, the client OS is not designed for true file sharing among the individual users. It is designed to isolate each user account from the others.

  • How do rename the Home Folder

    Someone else set up my iMac and named the home folder.  I want to change it to my name, not theirs.  How do I do that?

    It is Not easy to do, unfortunately.  Here are the instructions for the procedure:
          http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1428

  • Corrupted iSync Items after renaming the Home folder

    I renamed (successfully) my Home folder thanks to a tutorial I found on Apple.com's Support (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106824).
    But now I have two items in my iSync window that seem still related to the old (original) user.
    Here is a screenshot:
    http://img276.imageshack.us/img276/3661/picture3kw7.jpg
    I'd like to "fix" them or remove them.
    Thanks

    You should contact Microsoft [umm: good luck with that] and Panic for help with dealing with this issue.
    The Panic site says this about removing sync client registration information:
    Q: I no longer use Transmit. How can I remove Transmit from my .Mac Sync preferences?
    A: Awkwardly, Apple doesn't provide a way to remove these items. But, if you're running Transmit 3.5.1 or newer, type this into Terminal:
    ~/Library/Application\ Support/Transmit/TransmitSync.app/Contents/MacOS/TransmitSync --unregisterClient
    That should remove Transmit from the list.
    Aside from offering you that little tidbit, all I can give you is a way to unregister all of your synchronization clients. A future release of the framework or of iSync may include such capabilities, but the present ones do not.

  • Rename original home folder after Set Up

    I just set up a brand new Pro in a computer lab. I installed Adobe Master Collection, Final Cut, ProTool, etc. It took days....
    I then discovered I had (stupidly) named the original Home Folder incorrectly during set up. Can I rename the Home Folder without screwing up all the software serial numbers and activation codes. I have already changed it to the name I want in the Sharing Preferences but my little house still has the original name. It also wants me to type the original Admin. name. I'm not the only Administrator so this is going to lead to confusion.

    There might be some permissions issues with the name change. Unfortunately, I do not recall whether I changed the name of a user home folder or used the migration assistant to transfer things to a different user account, but I wound up having to clean up a lot of permissions problems so be sure to check that out before you turn it over to the intended user.
    Good Luck with the Adobe apps. Some of them just do not take kindly to any sort of change.

  • Help with understanding the Home Folder plus User Accounts

    I just got the IMac (replacing an ageing...that is an understatement...Grape iMac from long ago) and this is my first go at the OSX. My previous iMac had OS9.2
    I am having a problem understanding the Home folder and the Users to a point. The concepts are fine, it is the changing of names that is the problem. When I first started the iMac and went through the set-up and finally looked at the file structure, there was the Home Folder with a name, which i guess was pre-entered during set-up since I did not enter it (lets call it JOE). There was also 1 User, JOE with all the iLife folders. Since I did not like the name, i went to the Systems Preferences, into Accounts and found that JOE is an Admin. So, I changed the name to, lets say BILL, who still is an Admin. I also changed some settings and made BILL the auto log account. OK so far I am happy. I go back to the HD and find that now there are 2 users (folders), BILL and JOE, and that the Home Folder is still named JOE butall the iLife files are now under BILL.
    So I went and also renamed the Home Folder to BILL, so everything looks fine. But when I restarted the iMac latter it lost all the settings (mouse, etc.) This is really getting confusing.
    Here is what I want to do (after some reasearch):
    I want to change the Short Name (JOE) but so far I have read that you can not do that. Where did this name come from (basically my first initial and my last name) because I don't want my Home Folder to be named that. I found somewhere that the only way to do that is an Erase and Install. I am willing to do that since I have a backup of all the iLife files on an external disk anyways and I have not put anything new yet.
    Can someone enlighten me as to what would be the best course of action....this Short Name thing is frustrating.
    iMac 20" 2.33MHz   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    Welcome To Discussions kapklo!
    First you need to sort out the extra Home folder issue, that was created by changing the Short Names.
    The info in one or more of the articles linked to below, will help you with that.
    Return to Default Desktop, Apparent "Loss" of Home Directory
    My home folder and desktop are different than before
    Recover from renaming your Home folder, authored by Dr Smoke
    Then you can change the Short Name using this Change Short Name The Easy Way.
    Or you could do an Erase & Install, making sure you enter your preferred Short Name, during the setup process.
    ali b

  • I renamed my home folder :( can't get it back to normal

    hi, i know there are about a billion topics in this forum about this same thing, but i still cannot get everything back to normal despite reading a lot of them.
    a couple of weeks ago i renamed my home folder, which created a whole new set of preferences.
    i've done some things since then, but i can't remember every step i've taken so bare with me! maybe you clever people can figure out what i've missed out/done wrong.
    i remember that in the users folder i renamed the new (incorrect) folder to Stephen_new, and changed the old (correct) one to Stephen. - this was as instructed to by http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107854.
    I also copied the whole library folder from the home > Stephen > library to the home > library folder, as instructed on step 3 on this website http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/renamehomerecovery.html (i presumed by 'home > library > library they meant home > Stephen > library). This gave me back my bookmarks and stuff.
    however, in the home folder there was only library and desktop. now, when i add something to a folder (say movies) through mac hd > users > stephen > movies (or the shortcut on the left of finder) it creates a new movies folder in the home directory, and copies the file there too. i.e. the file is in 2 places.
    also on the left of finder the icons for movies etc. have all gone back to blue folder icons.
    so basically the problem is before if i wanted to go to documents it would be right in my home folder, but now i have to go mac hd > users > Stephen > documents to get there, or i could make a shortcut on the left of finder.
    i'm not sure how to tell which users folder i'm actually using, Stephen or Stephen_new. I'm guessing it's Stephen as new files seem to save there.
    i would guess that i need to change my users folder to the name of my home folder icon, but you can't have 2 things the same name in the same folder.
    i created a topic at appleinsider.com's forums, which no one replied to. maybe some of the info there could help you figure it out
    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=71584
    thank you very much for any help you can give me. if anything is unclear please ask me to explain further.
    ibook g4   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    hello again,
    i didn't really dare to delete the blue home folders before, just in case everything went wrong, but now i think i have so little space that i can't afford to lose 2.25gb!
    one thing that slightly worries me is the fact that the 'proper' library folder (in the home icon) is 2.09gb, whereas the 'wrong' one (from the blue folder forenamesurname) is 2.24gb - this is the one i would be deleting. just seems odd to delete a larger file than the one i presume i'm using.
    "Move everything you want to keep out of the blue folders, and then place both of the folders on your desktop. If everything works properly after a few days, delete both folders. If you are asked for your administrator password at any point or if either folder is copied instead of moved when dragged, don't delete that folder."
    by 'everything you want to keep', does this include the library folder? 'cause there doesn't seem to be much else, and i'm not sure if deleting the library folder would ruin all my preferences.
    i've put both of the folders on the desktop, it didn't ask for the admin password or try to copy them, so i guess that's good news. what kind of things should i be looking out for to act differently?
    are the folders not in use now that they are on the desktop?
    also if i put them in the trash will they have no effect? i.e. the same as permanently deleting them, so i could put them in the trash as a test.
    cheers, stephen.

  • How do I remove my iWeb pages from the Home folder so I can publish to a new host?

    I have moved my MobileMe site to a new service (GoDaddy).  The basic transfer went very smoothly.  With one tiny hitch:  the new URL text.
    IWeb places web  pages in folders, each folder being a  "site." The name of the root folder automatically becomes a "pointer" to the web site -- and part of the URL text.
    My current root folder  is named DavidChartrand -- me.  So..... when I published everything over to GoDaddy the text "DavidChartrand" was attached to my URL. 
    Instead of seeing www.davidchartrand.com in the URL bar, visitors  see:   www.davidchartrand.com.com/DavidChartrand
    GoDaddy staff says this is simply a quirk in iWeb's design.  Fine, but it's annoying.  Is there anyway I can keep using iWeb but somehow remove the root folder.....that is, remove my site pages from the root folder and and then re-publish? GoDaddy tech support swears it  has many former MobileMe/iWeb users who have done this successfully but offered had no idea how.
    David

    The way iWeb publishes its websites, in its own folder, the normal URL is http://www.domain_name.com/Site_name/Page_name.html.  This is a normal URL for any web host.
    If you want to get rid of the site name you will need to publish your website to a folder on your hard drive and upload only the contents of the website folder to your server with a 3rd party FTP client like YummyLite, Transmit or Cyberduck.  That will get rid of the site name in the URL. 
    Of course remove the existing website foldr from the server beforehand.
    I believe the folder you publish to on GoDaddy is named public_html.  You might try renaming your website to "public_html" and publish to GoDaddy.  In theory iWeb will see the website's folder already on the server and publish the website file into it. 
    It works that way with HostExcellence.com which names the home folder the same as the domain name associated with it. This tutorial explains more about it: iW16 - Using HostExcellence.com with iWeb
    OT

  • "The home folder...isn't located in the usual place or can't be accessed" after 10.9 AD bind.

    Okay a little backstory here because I'm trying to eliminate or identify what I feel might be a bug in OS X Mountain Lion and Mavericks.  Just FYI, I'm not our institution's AD admin, I just have rights to bind and query for this and that, but I can't make changes or really investigate our AD domain server/s:
    So we're an educational institution with lots of adjuncts that come and go each year.  Recently in August, I had about 5 cases where these adjuncts couldn't log in because of a cryptic "login failed" error.  I have my macs setup to create mobile accounts without confirmation.  I don't want ANY syncing going on just local user accounts created, but something in the profile creation process demands access to their network home folder.  Well these 5 users were brand spanking new and somehow didn't have permissions to their own network home folders that everyone else hasn't had a problem with before.  I had our admins fix the permissions, and they were able to login thereafter.  Our admins are still looking for what might have caused this, but still don't know....
    Recently I've been testing the same AD bind script I've always used on Mavericks.  It's a simple bash "dsconfigad" customized for our institution.  It seems to work successfully but on the login screen I get no usual "arrow" that allows me to back out and click "Other" and login to AD.  I reseated the Ethernet cord and checked the AD configuration in Directory Utility - it was all set correctly as per the script parameters.  When I clicked OK and exited out to the login screen, the Other option was working correctly.  I was able to login with my own credentials just fine.
    I needed to tweak my image a little so I wiped and reloaded the machine with the new image (nothing relevant to binding and users was changed).  Got the same "no arrow" issue and tried the same steps, which again worked after some monkeying around.  I tried to login with my credentials - failed.  Now I get "The home folder for user 'my username' isn't located in the usual place or can't be located."  I went into a local user admin account and tried to add my home folder manually, nogo.  I logged onto a windows machine and tried to mount the same home folder in Windows - access denied - this is the SAME type of thing that ended up happening to my adjuncts.  I don't know if they are related but it's certainly a strange coincidence.
    How could testing AD binds change my home folder permissions, or possibly even corrupt the folder altogether?  The network share/home folder that our macs smb communicate with as per the bind settings are on a windows server (to the best of my knowledge).  My guess previously with the adjuncts error is that despite the fact that I don't need or want the profiles created to sync, the default options turns this on for mobile accounts even though it doesn't select any actual folders for syncing, but because it still tries some sort of "handshake" or something initially, first logins fail without network home folder permissions.  Now it seems like something in the initial profile creation process might actually be corrupting the network home folder or changing its permissions.
    I would post the bind script but I'm not sure it's relevant, as another mac admin in a different area ran into the same error with one of his new users and he bound manually, not with a script.
    I'm kind of new to this sysadmin stuff, so does anyone have any ideas or suggestions to track down the cause of this and possibly fix it?  The network share admin can fix my permissions, but if I could break it when it was working once, I foresee this happening again.

    Here's the script I used previously that is not connecting to AD "completely" that causes the errors mentioned (I'm replacing institution info with "xxx"):
    echo -n "This computer needs to be renamed and bound to Active Directory.  Please enter the XXX Inventory Number from the affixed XXX label on the machine: "
        read userinput
        echo -n "Enter the XXXAdmin password (you will still be asked to enter this for system configuration changes): "
        read -s xxxpassword
        scutil --set ComputerName $userinput
        scutil --set LocalHostName $userinput
    # Active Directory Bind Script For OS X Client
        # Modified by Wade Wei according to previous popular bind script
        # Adapted for xxx by xxx
        echo "Binding to Active Directory…"
        echo -n "Enter AD admin username: "
        read adusername
        echo -n "Enter AD admin password (please wait after password submitted, do not press any keys): "
        read -s adpassword
        #Basic parameters
        computerid=$userinput
        fqdn="ad.xxx.edu"
        username=$adusername
        password=$adpassword
        #Advanced parameters
        alldomains="enable"
        localhome="enable"
        protocol="smb"
        mobile="enable"
        mobileconfirm="disable"
        useuncpath="enable"
        user_shell="/bin/bash"
        admingroups="domain admins,enterprise admins,xxx,xxx"
        namespace="domain"
        packetsign="require"
        packetencrypt="require"
        localuser="XXXAdmin"
        localpassword=$xxxpassword
        # Bind to AD
        echo "Binding to AD - do not interrupt…"
        dsconfigad -add $fqdn -username $username -password "$password" -computer $computerid -force -packetencrypt $packetencrypt -localuser $localuser -localpassword $localpassword
        sleep 5
        #Configure advanced options
        echo "Configuring AD for Mac OS X…"
        dsconfigad -localuser $localuser -localpassword $localpassword -alldomains $alldomains -localhome $localhome -groups "$admingroups" -mobile $mobile -mobileconfirm $mobileconfirm -namespace $namespace -packetsign $packetsign -useuncpath $useuncpath -protocol $protocol -shell $user_shell -nopreferred
    Can anyone tell me if I need to update the script for Mavericks, and how?  Or should this be working and the bug is in Mavericks itself?

  • I bought a MacBook Pro off of someone and the home folder is still in their name...is there any way I can change it without losing all of my stuff?

    So I recently bought a MacBook Pro off of someone so I can use it for school. The home folder is still in the previous owners name and I was wondering if there is any way I could change it without losing all of my stuff that is on the MacBook Pro??  Thanks for your help!

    See Changing user account short name

Maybe you are looking for