Create New User Account And Transfer File

[Michaelgtrusa]

Hello members,


Today is the day i'd like to create a new user account and transfer all my files to that account. The problem? i've never tried this before! I will need step by step instuctions please.

 

[phatqao]

could you be a bit more specific about your intended result? for example, do you want to move your data to another computer, or only change some aspect of your existing account?

the short answer is this:
1. open Applications/System Preferences
2. select Accounts
3. click the '+' under the list of accounts
4. once the account is created, open applications/utilities/terminal
5. in the terminal, type

sudo mv -v /Users/<youroldaccount> /Users/<yournewaccount>

6. log in to your new account

 

[maflynn]

The OP may need to adjust the permissions on the moved files, i.e., it still retains ownership of the old account. I suggest type man chown to see the syntax of the command in a terminal window. At the very least should work.

chown -R [i]Owner[/i] { File ... | Directory ... }

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

I wanted to move all files to a new account to get around a problem and i'm hoping it's not complicated to do so. Adjusting permissions? Terminal commands? I'm confused.

 

[phatqao]

the command i mentioned is an easy way to move files between accounts...if you tried some other ways, you'd run into permissions issues - i.e. files created by your old account may not be viewed by your new account. the "sudo" bit in the command overrides this permission problem. also, good call maflynn, i forgot that using chown would also be important - that is, you need to change the owner of the files in order to ensure that they are fully functional in your new account