There are a couple of places on your Mac where your name - or some other name - might appear: the account name and Home binder. The name that appears is based on the Full Name you gave when you lot (or the administrator) kickoff set up the account.

But what if y'all want to change your username equally it appears in these locations? Information technology's possible that you accept since married and now have a new proper name (or you just divorced). Maybe Information technology misspelt your proper noun when they prepare your Mac. Perhaps your initial and surname spell something offensive, or it might be time to change what was in one case an amusing username for something more formal. Peradventure your current short proper name isn't really short and is a hurting to type every time you're prompted for your username. Perchance you've got two or more Macs and yous desire to use the same short username on all of them. Or mayhap yous inherited a Mac and would prefer to but change the name of the existing account rather than create a new ane.

Luckily, since Mac Bone X Leopard launched in 2007, Apple has made it reasonably simple to change the brusque username and Home folder proper name from within System Preferences. Prior to Leopard, irresolute your brusk username was a complicated, risky procedure.

There are all the same a few limitations though:

  • The Short Proper name and Home folder proper noun must lucifer - so if you were hoping to give your Home directory a comedy proper noun simply corking the brusque name as something more than formal, you are out of luck.
  • Despite what we said most it being a less risky procedure, information technology is the kind of modify that could event in data loss if you do something wrong. Then brand sure you support first!
  • You will as well need to log in to a different (administrator) account to do this, so you may need to create that first.

If yous need to create a new administrator account follow these steps:

  1. Open System Preferences > Users & Groups.
  2. Click the lock icon and enter your password.
  3. Click on the + sign.
  4. Change New Account to Administrator.

set up admin account

If you have forgotten your password read: How to recover a forgotten Mac password.

How to modify Mac username

Irresolute the username for your account is simple - bold y'all have administrator rights. But you will see a pretty stark warning that irresolute the settings might damage the business relationship and prevent you from logging in.

User name change warning

You need only follow these steps to alter the username:

  1. Open Organisation Preferences.
  2. Users & Groups.
  3. Click unlock and enter your countersign.
  4. Now Control-click or correct-click the user that you want to rename.
  5. Cull Advanced. Advanced Options user
  6. Change the proper noun in the full name field.
  7. Restart the computer for the changes to take consequence.

This volition only change the username - non the Home directory name, or your Brusk Name. And, as the warning states, it may damage the business relationship and prevent you from logging in!

We did it without any problems, although at that place were a few pilus-raising seconds when the login process took slightly longer than usual.

How to change Dwelling house folder name

Home folder Mac

Changing your Home folder name (and your account name, which is linked) is more complicated.

  1. Click on the Apple logo in the menu and Log Out of the account you lot desire to alter the name for.
  2. Log in with a dissimilar ambassador business relationship (you have to exist logged out of an account to rename information technology) you may demand to create a new ambassador account (we show you how to practice that above). Log in to that account.
  3. Go to the Users folder on the startup drive (to find it open the Finder and click on Go > Figurer > Macintosh Hard disk. Where is Mac Home folder
  4. Open up the Users folder - inside you volition find the Abode directory for the account you're renaming. (Write this downwardly as you volition demand it later)
  5. Click on the binder and rename it (note the old and new name because you will need information technology once more)
  6. Enter the password for the admin account y'all are using when prompted.

How to change your Username

Having changed your Home folder name you now need to change your Username - of yous don't there will be problems because the two need the aforementioned name. You besides need to alter the name in the field what shows the location of the Home directory.

  1. Open System Preferences > Users & Groups.
  2. Click unlock and enter the countersign for the admin account you just logged in with.
  3. From the list of users, Control-click or right-click the user that you want to rename.
  4. Select Advanced Options.
  5. Change Account Name field to the new proper name you lot just gave the Dwelling folder for that user. Change user name Mac
  6. Adjacent modify the Habitation directory field to match the new proper name you lot gave the Abode binder.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Close Organization Preferences.
  9. Restart the Mac.
  10. Log on to the renamed business relationship

If y'all have any problems logging in bank check that the account and one directory names are the same.

Need to modify your admin password? Here's How to change the admin password on a Mac.

You may too want to brand logging onto your Mac fifty-fifty easier - did you know if you take an Apple tree Picket you can apply that to log on automatically? Here'south how to unlock and log on to your Mac with an Apple Lookout.