There are a couple of places on your Mac where your proper name - or another name - might announced: the account name and Home folder. The name that appears is based on the Full Name you gave when y'all (or the administrator) first prepare the account.

Simply what if you want to modify your username equally information technology appears in these locations? It's possible that yous have since married and now have a new proper noun (or yous just divorced). Maybe It misspelt your proper name when they set upwards your Mac. Perhaps your initial and surname spell something offensive, or information technology might be time to change what was once an amusing username for something more formal. Peradventure your current curt proper name isn't really short and is a hurting to type every time you're prompted for your username. Perhaps you've got two or more Macs and you want to employ the same curt username on all of them. Or maybe you lot inherited a Mac and would prefer to just change the name of the existing business relationship rather than create a new one.

Luckily, since Mac OS Ten Leopard launched in 2007, Apple has made information technology reasonably simple to change the short username and Dwelling binder proper noun from within System Preferences. Prior to Leopard, changing your short username was a complicated, risky procedure.

In that location are still a few limitations though:

  • The Short Name and Home folder proper noun must match - so if you were hoping to give your Abode directory a comedy name but bully the short proper name as something more formal, you are out of luck.
  • Despite what we said about information technology being a less risky procedure, it is the kind of alter that could event in data loss if you do something incorrect. So brand certain you back up first!
  • You will too need to log in to a different (administrator) account to exercise this, and so you may demand to create that first.

If you lot demand to create a new administrator account follow these steps:

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

set up admin account

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

How to change Mac username

Changing the username for your business relationship is simple - assuming yous take administrator rights. But you lot will see a pretty stark alert that irresolute the settings might damage the account and prevent y'all from logging in.

User name change warning

You lot demand only follow these steps to modify the username:

  1. Open Arrangement Preferences.
  2. Users & Groups.
  3. Click unlock and enter your password.
  4. Now Control-click or right-click the user that y'all want to rename.
  5. Choose Avant-garde. Advanced Options user
  6. Change the name in the full name field.
  7. Restart the calculator for the changes to accept effect.

This will only modify the username - not the Home directory name, or your Short Name. And, as the alarm states, it may damage the account and forestall you from logging in!

We did it without whatsoever problems, although there were a few hair-raising seconds when the login process took slightly longer than usual.

How to alter Dwelling folder proper name

Home folder Mac

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

  1. Click on the Apple logo in the carte and Log Out of the account you lot desire to alter the name for.
  2. Log in with a different ambassador account (you have to be logged out of an account to rename it) you may need to create a new administrator account (nosotros show yous how to do that in a higher place). Log in to that account.
  3. Go to the Users binder on the startup drive (to notice it open up the Finder and click on Go > Computer > Macintosh Hard disk drive. Where is Mac Home folder
  4. Open the Users folder - within y'all will find the Home directory for the business relationship you're renaming. (Write this down as you will demand information technology afterward)
  5. Click on the folder and rename it (notation the quondam and new proper name considering you lot will demand it once again)
  6. Enter the password for the admin account you are using when prompted.

How to modify your Username

Having changed your Habitation folder name you lot now need to alter your Username - of you don't there volition be problems because the 2 need the same proper noun. You also demand to modify the name in the field what shows the location of the Habitation directory.

  1. Open System Preferences > Users & Groups.
  2. Click unlock and enter the password for the admin business relationship you only logged in with.
  3. From the list of users, Command-click or right-click the user that you lot want to rename.
  4. Select Avant-garde Options.
  5. Change Account Name field to the new name yous just gave the Home binder for that user. Change user name Mac
  6. Next change the Abode directory field to friction match the new proper name you gave the Home folder.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Close System Preferences.
  9. Restart the Mac.
  10. Log on to the renamed account

If you lot have any bug logging in cheque that the account and one directory names are the same.

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

You may also want to make logging onto your Mac even easier - did yous know if yous have an Apple tree Watch you tin use that to log on automatically? Here'due south how to unlock and log on to your Mac with an Apple Watch.