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

Similar Messages

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!

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 to delete the home folder of a deleted account?

After I set up a new account, I transferred everything from my old macbook pro to my new iMac (so it has a moutain lion system. I'm sure you know it. Just want to make it clear ) through migration assistance from time machine. Then I realized that an extra account (my old one) plus many unnecessary data had been transferred to my new iMac. Therefore, I decided to delete this old account.
HOWEVER, when I deleted the account, I failed to delete the home folder--I chose to delete it securely; but after it started backing up, I simply cancel the backup (which is a HUGE mistake) Then I found the account was deleted but its home folder stayed-- it occupied over 150GB of my new iMac.
Could anyone tell me how I can delete the home folder securely?
in addition, since I only want to transfer iphoto pictures, iTune music and some important documents to my new account, should I simply copy thme to an external drive and transfer them to my new account?
Thanks a lot for your help!

In system preferences, create a new account again, using the short name of the "deleted" account. You may be prompted to re-use the old home folder. Log out and log in to test it worked. Then log in as your new admin, and do the delete process again. Don't choose to securely delete this time - just a regular delete.
When you have time to spare, go to Disk Utility, and use the Erase tab to securely erase free space on the drive. This will accomplish the same thing that your originally tried to do. Use the fastest method - anything more secure is a waste of time. You may need to run it overnight - it can take several hours.
Matt

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.

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)

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

How to move/copy Home Folder to a new hard drive?

Hard drive crashed in Snow Leopard, but before it did I pulled off my home folder. I am going to reinstall Snow Leopard on a new hard drive. How do I move/copy my home folder to the new hard drive? The home folder is sitting on an external hard drive that connects via firewire 400. Do I simply recreate the user account on the computer with new hard drive and copy/move the old home folder over to overwrite the new home folder? Looking forward to any suggestions.
David

Normally you can move your exiting home dir to another drive without any problems. For example, see
How to Move the Home Folder in OS X – and Why
But you appear to want to take a home dir from another system and make it the home dir on another system. That may or may not work. The operations are the same, i.e., point to the new home dir via the Accounts system prefs advanced options. But if the account id's are not the same there is going to be permissions problems.
Similarly, you can have permissions problems for the same reason just copying the stuff over the newly created home dir.
If you already know the user id's are the same then I think you may just get away with the substitution.

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.

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

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

How do I install OSX onto a new SSD (in the place of my optical drive) without transferring all data across. However, with the applications, system and library on the SSD to improve the speed, but keep non essential items (the home folder) on the HDD

I have a mid 2009 13 inch unibody 2.53GHz MacBook Pro. I'm finding that it doesn't run as quickly as it used to.
A genius in the Apple store suggested that I replace my optical drive with an SSD, however only use the SSD for OSX, applications, system and library. Keep all documents, pictures, music etc on the current hard drive.
I would be grateful if someone could help me with:
1) installing OSX on the SSD without copying across data from the current hard drive
2) transferring applications, system and library folders across to the SSD so that they still function
3) changing my settings so that OSX reads the home folder from the current hard drive, as well as all the applications' data (documents, music etc...)
However, I would like to run iMovie, with all events etc solely from the SSD to speed up the process of editing movies.
If anyone could help with this, it would be much appreciated.

If you got the data transfer cable with your SSD, the procedure should be pretty simple - and there should be step-by-step instructions in the box. You're simply going to remove the bottom case of your computer (using a Phillips #00 screwdriver), take out the two screws in the bracket holding the hard drive into place (using same screwdriver), remove the drive and (use a Torx 6 screwdriver) remove the four screws that hold the hard drive in place. Then put in the SSD and reassemble the machine.
Then you'll plug up the old hard drive by using the SATA to USB cable and use the option key to boot from the old drive. I don't know what data transfer software Crucial provides, but I would recommend formatting the SSD using Disk Utility from your old drive ("Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" with a single GUID partition) and then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your old drive to your new SSD (see this user tip for cloning - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4122). You needn't worry about getting an enclosure since you have the data transfer cable and you don't want to use your old hard drive.
There are a number of videos on YouTube that take you step-by-step through this procedure - many specific to Crucial SSDs and their data transfer kit - do a little searching there if you're unsure of how to procede.
Clinton

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.

How do i import my iMovie event library to FCPX when the iMovie library is NOT in the home folder.

my situation:
my MBP is running two drives: a 160gb SSD that has my home folder, OS and all apps, and a 500gb HDD for data and non-essential software.
the HDD used to be my OS and home folder, so I used to run iMovie off it. but after installing the SSD, i am now running Lion off it, and it is now my new home folder.
so my iMovie events are now marooned on my ex-home folder, on what is now my HDD data drive.
I can import iMovie events no problem, as FCPX prompts for where the project files are. but FCPX doesn't prompt for the location of the iMovie events library, so how do i get those old iMovie events in?
i suppose i could copy all the events over to my SSD, then do the import, and then delete them. but that would take up a lot of space, and id rather not be copying and deleting so much data on the SSD.
is there any other way?

It is definitely to your advantage to use the FCP command to Import your iMovie Events all at once. The reason is you will not double up on space. FCP will create a hard lingk to your events so you can access them in FCP without altering the iMovie Event in any way, but without doubling the space.
So there are several ways you could approach this.
1) If you are not using iMovie anymore, you could simply move them to the iMovie Event folder at the top level of either your old drive, or any attached drive that is formatted correctly (Mac OS Extended (journaled). This would likely break any iMovie Projects that you currently have, so it is not recommended if you will continue to use iMovie.
2) If iMovie is still working, you can use iMovie to move the Events to a proper drive. Click VIEW/EVENTS BY DISK in iMovie, and Command-Drag in iMovie to Movie Events to the drive you want while maintaining your project links. This option is probably only available to you if you have set up your old drive as your official Home directory.
3) As long as you set your "old" drive to be your Home Folder in OSX, you can just leave them where they are. OSX lets you have the Home folder on a different drive than your startup drive. This is not ususally recommended, but it is useful when you have an SSD. When I got my current Mac with an SSD, I moved my home folder to the internal hard drive but OSX and my Apps are on the SSD.
To do this, I followed the advice of longtime poster Pondini, who has a great website that walks you through this.
Here is a link.
Link to Pondini's site. http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
Link to Pondini's post on your topic. http://pondini.org/OSX/SetupOther.html

How do I change the name of the Home folder OSX 10.9

Hi there,
I am trying to change the name of the Home folder on my Macbook Pro running OSX 10.9 I had a clean install of 10.9, and used migration assistant to restore my settings from a Time Machine Backup.
The problem is that the Home folder for my user is now named "Cody 1" when it used to be "Cody". This seems like a minor issue, but all the programs that reference data in the old location, are forcing me to go and find the data manually. Everything from iPhoto to VirtualBox, all files have to be found manually.
I have tried the instructions set forth in this article, http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1428, but the dialog that should, according to the article, allow me to redirect the account to the existing folder, returns an error saying that the user name is already in use. There is no option to use the existing folder. I have tried re-naming the folder to something different, to no avail.
Ideas?
Thanks in advance.
-Cody

The Apple Support document you referenced is cumbersome, outdated, buggy, and too likely to result in the sort of problems you described.
It may be too late now but see the following:
Niel's post here: How to change name of home folder
and:
Apple Support Communities contributor Pondini found an astonishingly simple way to accomplish what you seek. etresoft distilled that information into the following User Tip:
Changing user account short name
Note that he writes it has been tested on Mountain Lion but the procedure appears sound and should work equally well with Mavericks.
Back up your system before doing either one.
To fix what happened might be possible in Single user mode. I don't have specific instructions but you should be able to find and delete user accounts in the /Users directory.
Type carefully and don't proceed without knowing the risks.

How do rename the Home Folder

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