OS X Lion: Delete a user account

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Delete a user account

If you have an administrator account, you can delete user accounts on your computer that are no longer needed.

When you delete a user account, you can save the user’s home folder, which contains the user’s files and settings, or delete the home folder.

  1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, and then click Users & Groups or click Parental Controls.
  2. Click the lock icon to unlock it, and then type an administrator name and password.
  3. Select the user account you want to delete, and then click Delete (-) below the account list.
  4. Do one of the following:
    • Select “Save the home folder in a disk image” to save the folder as a disk image in /Users/Deleted Users/.

    • Select “Don’t change the home folder” to leave the home folder in /Users/.

    • Select “Delete the home folder” to remove it from the computer. If you want to prevent programs that read raw data from retrieving any files, select “Erase home folder securely.”

  5. Click OK.

If you don’t delete a user’s home folder, you can restore the user’s account and the contents of the home folder.

Restore a deleted user account

Last Modified: Oct 31, 2013
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