Change username/home directory

Hi,
I want to change my username and home directory. My Mac was gifted to me and while setting it up for me, they mispelt my name. I have been using it that way for quite some time, and now I want to change it. I am following this article: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1428 and it seems quite easy.
If I rename the home directory, will Time Machine back up all stuff in my home directory once again? My home directory is quite huge ~70% of my hard disk and so I will lose a lot of old back ups due to this. Any workarounds?
Thanks.

tartarsauce wrote:
If I rename the home directory, will Time Machine back up all stuff in my home directory once again? My home directory is quite huge ~70% of my hard disk and so I will lose a lot of old back ups due to this. Any workarounds?
Yes. Time Machine will back up your home directory again.
Your choices are:
1) Leave the name as is, and you won't have to worry about the large back up for a while, or
2) If you are out of space on your current backup disk, buy another external disk, rename the user and home directory on your Mac and start a new round of backups, keeping the old one around until you no longer need the files,
3) Rename the home directory and let Time Machine delete the oldest of your backed up files as it runs out of disk space.
Have I missed any?

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How to change users home directory home folder name?

Is there a way in Mountain Lion to simply change the name of the home directory home folder name without it throwing off anything else for that particular user?
I read the article about 'Enabling and using the "root" user', but it specifically says for 'Lion' and not 'Mountain Lion'
When I get to step 8 there is no clear place to enter an adminstator account name and password so I can't go any further.
I also did a quick test with a newly created user and after setting some preferences and customizing the desktop, I changed the home directory name and I pretty much lost all my preferences after logging back in. It's as if changing the home directory name in any way shape or form literally wipes out the previous user and you have to start anew.
I don't want to risk changing the home directory name and end up losing essentially my whole user setup, but I really want a different name for my home directory and I don't want anything else to change. Is this possible?
Thanks

Hi Blastic,
I'm trying to do the same thing. I did follow Apple's instructions and while they are easy to follow.....I was unable to rename the folder as described (clicking on it or pressing enter). I did enable root user, I did log out and re-log in as root user.....and I got stopped. I simply could not rename the folder as per Apple's instructions and ther is NOTHING on the internet about it......save for your beacon of light! Thanks for the post. I'm using 13 inch MacBookPro Mid 2010 2.4 GHz, Intel Core 2 Duo, 8GB ram, OS 10.8

Change the home directory from terminal for another copy of the OS.

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Can you explain exactly what "the issue" is?
You can use dscl from the command line to change a home directory (as described in this hint), but that still requires you to be using that startup volume. Hence, it is no different than using System Preferences. If System Preferences won't work for you, then dscl probably wouldn't either.

I want to change my home directory/computer name

i want to change my home directory/computer name

How to change user account name or home directory name:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1428
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3872

How can I change my "Home directory" folder name?

Hello, everyone.
I was given a pre-owned MacBook Pro that's running OS 10.6.8. How can I change the name on the Home directory folder? I was able to change the Administrator Account settings, but the Home directory still shows the previous owner's name. It bothers me a bit, though, to see the previous owner's name still come up on the Home folder.
I came across the instruction listed below, but I can't get past step 4. It instructs me "rename it just like I would rename any folder." I can't seem to rename it, though. The cursor doesn't come up when I click on the folder name.
For Mac OS X v10.5 or later
Enable the root user.
Log in as root.
Navigate to the /Users folder.
Select the Home folder with the short name you want to change, and rename it just like you would rename any folder. Keep in mind that the shortname must be all lowercase, with no spaces, and only contain letters.
Use the Users & Groups pane (Accounts pane in Mac OS X v10.6.8 or earlier) in System Preferences to create a new user with the Account name or Short Name that you used in the previous step.
Click OK when "A folder in the Users folder already has the name 'account name'. Would you like to use that folder as the Home folder for this user account?" appears. Note: This will correct the ownership of all files in the Home folder, and avoid permissions issues with the contents.
Choose Log Out from the Apple menu.
Log in as the newly created user. You should be able to access all of your original files (on the desktop, in Documents, and in the other folders of this Home).
After verifying that your data is as expected, you can delete the original user account via the Users & Groups pane (Accounts pane in Mac OS X v10.6.8 or earlier).
Disable the root user.
Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi everyone,
I followed this https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3872
and got to the stage of having renamed my Home folder with the new name but the Home folder is STILL designated to the old name?
When I try and create a new user with the new name, I don't get asked if I'd like to use the existing name as Home folder, I get told I can't use the newname because it exists already - thats the end of it - no further options.
So to clarify - I now have oldname folder STILL assigned as Home folder. A newname folder with all my stuff in - apps, desktop, etc etc but this is just another user folder.
Interestingly at login stage, the oldname folder isn't an option. I think I've confused the system somewhere by titling things differently at some stage in an attempt to rename Home folder.
I'm running Mountain Lion (as of yesterday) and because I've kinda lost the use of my User folder as the Home folder, can't get to my Time Machine. I'm in trouble but I'm trying not to panic. Would appreciate any help!
Laurie

Change My Home Directory Name to Match My Short Name

Somewhere in the process of Migration and Setup Assistant accross 3 computers, I need to change my home folder name to match my shortname. It is getting a little confusing to have two short "names."
My home folder is - admin
My short name is - bobbyv
I would like tho change my home folder to bobbyv
The admin account as you can guess is root, i have two other accounts, one that is admin and one that is not. I know about the advanced options in the accounts preference pane, but I do not want to change in without knowing what I'm doing because I do not want to have an empty and clean new home folder, my data is important.
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Changing the short name is possible, but it is rather involved. Search for "change short name" on this site. It's easiest to create a new account and then transfer your data to that account.

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I accidentally installed 8i Lite in the worng directory. How can I re-install it in another directory?

simply delete the existing copy...if on NT.. and make sure all the registry are taken off..
if on UNIX simply rename the ora_home path
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When a standard user logs in, they get a message (paraphased) saying "the home directory is not available. If it is located on a server, the server might not be online". If I change the standard user to admin, this message goes away, and everything is fine.
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Rebooted, then tried to log in as the standard users.
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Hi,
the AFP is has always been switched on. As for the path I believe this to be correct. The path I am using is:
afp://musicserver/Users
I'm not at the server right now so I mat have got the afp and : and / in the wrong order here but they are correct on the server.
This however does not seem to put the a folder in the Users folder. Could it be something to do with my external hard drive? I am using a Mac Mini as our server (not ideal but fine for us, or at least was) this is booted from our external hard drive. This is the main system drive which is where the Users data is also stored. I have tried all possible paths I can thing of from replacing the 'musicserver' with the IP address. I have also tried adding the name of the drive to the path (System) but all does not work.
Are you able to suggest anything I have missed? Perhaps I'm doing the path wrong?
Thanks again
Chris

Changing Short name & home directory?

So...somebody on the forum gave the suggestion to someone in another thread, of changing their short name in the system preferences...they neglected to mention that this is a big no-no & that everything would be wiped out. I, not understanding/knowing what this would do, changed it...& of course, was baffled when I restarted & everything had reverted back to the setting the previous owner has. I went back into the preferences & changed the short name BACK to the other person's name...but kept the home directory as my name.
Questions are: Is there a way to change the short name without losing my settings, or shoudl I just leave as is?
&...has simply changing the home directory name to mine from his in the system preferences, going to effect anything or do any damage? If so, is there some other way I should go about changing it? I just hate going to the folder & seeing the old owner's name.

Use this:
http://homepage.mac.com/frakes/ChangeShortName.html

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Hey there, I was just wondering if there is any way to change my home directory in Mountain Lion 10.8.2 because I cant find Accounts under System Preferences which is where I usually set my home directory from. Thanks a lot

Hey there,
As MacJack has said, 'Users & Groups' has replaced 'Accounts'. To adjust Home Directory you need to go to Users & Groups > Login Options > Network Account Server > Join > Then you can open Directory Utility from there..
More or less the same as Lion 10.7
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How to change Home Directory name

I'm giving my daughter my old MacBook (OS 10.6.3) and want to change the home directory to her name, so that it looks like it's her computer and not mine.
Do I have to wipe the laptop and reinstall system and other software, or can I delete my old account and make hers the "My Account" or Home or however it is called. Would that have potentially devastating consequences for Privileges, for example?
Changing the Home User name to hers in the Accounts Preferences window had no effect on the Users directory (in the Finder).
The problem my be nothing more than cosmetic, but I'd like her to see her name as a user and not mine (she is a teenager, after all)
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Hi
The simplest solution is to add a new Admin account for her, log out from your user, log in as her user, and delete your old user in System Preferences. When you delete your account you'll have the option to save the files in an archive file or delete immediately (which will irrevocably delete all files) - so make sure you have backed up or moved any files you want to keep (music, pictures, etc).
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iOwn iMove '11.
My older MacPro was getting slow, so I used a SSD as the boot drive and houses only the applications.
How can I make my old internal RAID array with lots of space the home directory for iMovie and NOT the internal SSD which does not have sufficient space.
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First, move all your projects and events to the internal Raid. All moves must be done within iMovie.
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https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4141
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http://pondini.org/OSX/SetupOther.html
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Currently running a 2009 White Macbook, recently upgraded to 10.9 (Mavericks).
So I didn't like my home directory name, it was something stupid I picked when I first got the computer years back.
So I went into the Directory Utility as a root user and changed the name under NFSHome Directory. Just changed it to a new one. Changed everything there (like the dsAttrType things) to the new name too. I had tried to make a new user with the new name like the Apple tutorial suggests but it wouldn't let me. So I figured I would log out of my account, restart the comp and see if that would change anything. Starting up made me set-up my Macbook again like when Mavericks was first installed, then it let me login to my regular account.
All my files are still here on the computer, but the home directory is just gone. I can find all the files by searching their name in Spotlight but there's no home directory listed so they're all just floating around I guess. I went back in and changed my home directory to the old one but that didn't do anything.
And yes, I know.. Shouldn't mess with things I'm not too keen on, but too late for that lecture.
How can I make a new home directory or restore my old one?
I've never backed-up my computer in the 4 years I've owned it, so that's not an option. (don't lecture me here, either.)
Really don't want to lose my files.
Any help is appreciated.

Sorry lectures are not optional.
Step 1 what do you want your username to be?
I'm picking bobby for an example.
Do you already have a separate admin account?
The first step is to make a new admin account with a suitable password.
Login to that new admin account.
Hopefully your old home folder is still inside /Users, if not find it & put it back!
You may need to move it via Terminal & sudo (the paths will need to be correct!)
sudo mv /Users/yourOldHomeFolder /Users/bobby
Once that is in place add a new user account in system preferences (make it a 'standard' non-admin account) & call the user 'bobby'. You don't deserve an admin account after this :^) Make sure you give it the correct 'shortname' it must match the home folder.
You will see a prompt that asks about using the existing folder, agree & wait for it to fix all the permissions (you now have a new user ID).
See if you can login & see your files. You ned to check everything is OK hopefully most things will be, but some items may have used the username or the full file path, so you will just have to deal with that.
Here is a guide my freind wrote for 10.6 on this very topic…
http://mmug.org.uk/extra/changing-account-name-mac-os-x-106
Now before you play with Directory Utility again please RTM

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Michael
Message was edited by:
Michael Cendon

Hi,
hqt200475 wrote:
Hi,
I have the Environemt:
+ Linux SUSE 11 + Oracle Enterprise 11.2.0.2
oracle@stb:~> uname -a
Linux stb 2.6.32.12-0.7-default #1 SMP 2010-05-20 11:14:20 +0200 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/LinuxMy Problem is changing the home directory of an existing Standalone-ASM:
/u00/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/grid_1/I want to move it to
/u00/app/grid/product/11.2.0/grid_1/My Question: what is the optimal path?
Optimal Flexible Architecture standard
All Oracle components on the installation media are compliant with Optimal Flexible Architecture. This means, Oracle Universal Installer places Oracle Database components in directory locations, assigning the default permissions that follow Optimal Flexible Architecture guidelines.
Oracle recommends that you use Optimal Flexible Architecture, specially if the database will grow in size, or if you plan to have multiple databases.
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/u00/app/grid/product/11.2.0/grid_1 - Oracle home directory for Oracle Grid Infrastructure 11g for a standalone server, if user owner of installation is "grid"
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E11882_01/install.112/e16763/appendix_ofa.htm
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Change username/home directory

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