Disclaimer : I ’m affiliate with the mathematical product cross today , so it gets no rating .
Back in 2004 , I tell you about a utility program I in person have a hand in , ChangeShortName . As I explained back then :
I get this question so often because there does n’t seem to be a way to make such a variety . Apple makes it very well-heeled to change your long username — broadly speaking your full name — via the Accounts pane of System Preferences . But if you seek to modify your inadequate username — your prescribed account name in Mac OS X , most well identifiable as the name of your base user leaflet in /Users — you’ll find that theater of operations to be grey out and inaccessible .
There are good reasons Apple has made it difficult to modify your short drug user name , the most important being that as your prescribed Unix account name , switch it involves more than just typecast a new name in a field ; it requires modification in a number of low - level place and modifications of a bit of important files throughout the operating system of rules . Apple provide aset of instructionsfor changing a brusk username ; however , what those didactics are really doing is creating a new account , transferring your files from the existing account to the newfangled one , and then cancel the existing story . This approach mostly process , but it ’s a scrap of a pain in the neck and it ’s not really ended — a phone number of configurations may not get update this way .
As a result , I often recommend that people simply survive with their current short username or , if the account was just created , make another new account with the desired name and then erase the unwanted one . But if you ’re determined to actually change the myopic name of your account , I humbly evoke usingChangeShortName 1.3 , which offers major improvements over earlier version thanks to a lot of hard work by my co - conspirator , James Bucanek .
The great enhancement are that the current version is a Cocoa coating with an gentle - to - use interface and that the name - variety procedure no longer requires a stumble through Terminal ; the latter alteration should be especially welcome by the program line - line - averse . ( A shell handwriting is still included separately for IT common people and remote use . ) You simply choose the account you require to modify , get in the desired new curt username — and , if you care , a fresh full name — and then tap the Change Name button . After bring home the bacon an decision maker ’s username and countersign , ChangeShortName will do its thing .
ChangeShortName render feedback on the process in its Results box ; although most of this text is just routine log output excuse what ’s happen behind the view , it also include some useful data . For example , ChangeShortName searches for , and lists , preferences ( .plist ) files that admit reference to your old domicile directory ; as explain in the ReadMe file , such reference can lead to unexpected conduct in the affiliate software , as the software may look for their data in the unseasonable location . You ’ll desire to establish the shock program and update their preferences to point to your new drug user pamphlet ( and , while you ’re at it , drop their developer a friendly reminder to userelativepath name calling [ ~/ ] in their preferences data file instead of downright [ /Users / username/ ] path . ) .
If you change the name of a substance abuser currently enter , you should reboot your Mac to see that OS X in full recognizes the change ; ChangeShortName includes a restart option and enable it by nonpayment . ( Note that after the change , the Current Short Name pop - up may not display the name just changed ; this is because ChangeShortName refreshes the pop - up menu to admit thenewname , and doing so causes the first name in the bill of fare to seem by default . )
liken this round-eyed mental process to the one Apple adumbrate at the connexion I noted above , and I believe you ’ll see why we create this app . ChangeShortName includes a number of safety features to facilitate ensure you do n’t hose your system , and the novel version also now provide you to change the name of an account that let in a hypen ( - ) .
That suppose , allow me to repeat something else I write back in 2004 : Before you hasten off to download ChangeShortName and change all your usernames , a warning is in order . Changing the unforesightful username is a serious routine that involves the modification of organization files ; because of this , thesafestoption is to simply acquire to subsist with your present short username . But if you ’re determined to exchange your short username , ChangeShortName is the easiest way to do so . Just be sure to take the ReadMe file that comes with it — that document provides much more information on the procedure and isrequiredreading .
ChangeShortName 1.3 is a Universal binary and works with Mac OS X 10.3 and later . The included Terminal ( shell ) book can also be used on Mac OS X 10.2 .
