Tjyylli

For what reasons would an animal species NOT cross a *horizontal* land bridge?

How did the audience guess the pentatonic scale in Bobby McFerrin's presentation?

Can each chord in a progression create its own key?

Did the new image of black hole confirm the general theory of relativity?

Sort list of array linked objects by keys and values

Drawing arrows from one table cell reference to another

Can a flute soloist sit?

Deal with toxic manager when you can't quit

Can the DM override racial traits?

Working through the single responsibility principle (SRP) in Python when calls are expensive

How to handle characters who are more educated than the author?

Does Parliament need to approve the new Brexit delay to 31 October 2019?

Can withdrawing asylum be illegal?

Why don't hard Brexiteers insist on a hard border to prevent illegal immigration after Brexit?

Is 'stolen' appropriate word?

One-dimensional Japanese puzzle

Do working physicists consider Newtonian mechanics to be "falsified"?

Would an alien lifeform be able to achieve space travel if lacking in vision?

Huge performance difference of the command find with and without using %M option to show permissions

What force causes entropy to increase?

How to support a colleague who finds meetings extremely tiring?

Did the UK government pay "millions and millions of dollars" to try to snag Julian Assange?

What is the padding with red substance inside of steak packaging?

Why can't wing-mounted spoilers be used to steepen approaches?

How do I remove all traces of a user on a Mac without formatting?

.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ height:90px;width:728px;box-sizing:border-box;
}

0

I have a work computer that has lots of certs and configuration on it that I would like to keep.

How do I remove all traces of a user on a Mac without formatting?

I've updated Mac OS by signing in with my account, but when trying to update the Mac OS apps only, as I've uninstalled everything but them, it prompts me for the password of the previous user. I'm signed in with my account in iCloud system preferences. No other accounts.

I haven't gone into the root structure and deleted all folders but I've deleted the user's files.

So I'm wanting to completely blow away any remnants of the user.

There is significant certificate and network configuration that I would rather leave in tact then format and start from scratch. Can this be resolved through terminal. I can kill the OS if needs be trying this and start from scratch but the process would be much longer. Rather give it a try.

Assistance appreciated

macos mac user-accounts user-profiles apple-id

share|improve this question

asked yesterday

krhmkrhm

64

add a comment | 

0

I have a work computer that has lots of certs and configuration on it that I would like to keep.

How do I remove all traces of a user on a Mac without formatting?

I've updated Mac OS by signing in with my account, but when trying to update the Mac OS apps only, as I've uninstalled everything but them, it prompts me for the password of the previous user. I'm signed in with my account in iCloud system preferences. No other accounts.

I haven't gone into the root structure and deleted all folders but I've deleted the user's files.

So I'm wanting to completely blow away any remnants of the user.

There is significant certificate and network configuration that I would rather leave in tact then format and start from scratch. Can this be resolved through terminal. I can kill the OS if needs be trying this and start from scratch but the process would be much longer. Rather give it a try.

Assistance appreciated

macos mac user-accounts user-profiles apple-id

share|improve this question

asked yesterday

krhmkrhm

64

add a comment | 

I have a work computer that has lots of certs and configuration on it that I would like to keep.

How do I remove all traces of a user on a Mac without formatting?

I've updated Mac OS by signing in with my account, but when trying to update the Mac OS apps only, as I've uninstalled everything but them, it prompts me for the password of the previous user. I'm signed in with my account in iCloud system preferences. No other accounts.

I haven't gone into the root structure and deleted all folders but I've deleted the user's files.

So I'm wanting to completely blow away any remnants of the user.

There is significant certificate and network configuration that I would rather leave in tact then format and start from scratch. Can this be resolved through terminal. I can kill the OS if needs be trying this and start from scratch but the process would be much longer. Rather give it a try.

Assistance appreciated

macos mac user-accounts user-profiles apple-id

share|improve this question

asked yesterday

krhmkrhm

64

share|improve this question

asked yesterday

krhmkrhm

64

share|improve this question

asked yesterday

krhmkrhm

64

asked yesterday

krhmkrhm

64

asked yesterday

krhmkrhm

64

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

0

It sounds like the problem is that you have apps that were purchased under the old Apple ID. When you purchase an app, it's permanently linked with the Apple ID you made the purchase under. This is true even for free apps.

If this is what's going on, you'll need to delete those apps from the computer, and then repurchase/download them under the Apple ID that you want to use on that Mac going forward. For paid apps, this does mean you'll need to buy them again. When you purchase apps, you are purchasing them, and you're not allowed to pass them on to someone else; they need to buy their own apps. (Well, except for family sharing.)

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

Gordon DavissonGordon Davisson

26.3k44451

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  '...when trying to update the Mac OS apps only, as I've uninstalled everything but them'. Already done this.
  
  – krhm
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Which specific apps? Those supplied as part of the basic OS (like iTunes and Safari) aren't tied to Apple IDs, so this doesn't apply to them. But anything that shows up as an app in the App Store -- including free Apple apps -- are tied to an Apple ID. This even applies to any apps that came bundled with the Mac; for instance, if your Mac came with Pages, you'll have been asked to "accept" that app under your Apple ID, and from then on it's permanently linked to that Apple ID.
  
  – Gordon Davisson
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Note that you can delete everything associated with a particular user by deleting their profile in System Preferences > Users & Groups. Authenticate, select their profile and click the minus button at bottom left. you will be given a choice of how to delete the profile. But like Gordon says apps that they put on the Mac don't belong to you and you have to delete them and then buy them again.
  
  – Steve Chambers
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I gave up and formatted which ended up being a bad idea as now no matter how I try and create a new partition, GUID, MBR or Apple it always gives the error: 'the disk doesnt use the GUID partition table scheme'
  
  – krhm
  6 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

Your Answer

StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "3"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});

draft saved

draft discarded

Sign up or log in

StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});

Sign up using Google

Sign up using Facebook

Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

Name

Email

Required, but never shown

StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fsuperuser.com%2fquestions%2f1424254%2fhow-do-i-remove-all-traces-of-a-user-on-a-mac-without-formatting%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest

Name

Email

Required, but never shown

0

It sounds like the problem is that you have apps that were purchased under the old Apple ID. When you purchase an app, it's permanently linked with the Apple ID you made the purchase under. This is true even for free apps.

If this is what's going on, you'll need to delete those apps from the computer, and then repurchase/download them under the Apple ID that you want to use on that Mac going forward. For paid apps, this does mean you'll need to buy them again. When you purchase apps, you are purchasing them, and you're not allowed to pass them on to someone else; they need to buy their own apps. (Well, except for family sharing.)

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

Gordon DavissonGordon Davisson

26.3k44451

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  '...when trying to update the Mac OS apps only, as I've uninstalled everything but them'. Already done this.
  
  – krhm
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Which specific apps? Those supplied as part of the basic OS (like iTunes and Safari) aren't tied to Apple IDs, so this doesn't apply to them. But anything that shows up as an app in the App Store -- including free Apple apps -- are tied to an Apple ID. This even applies to any apps that came bundled with the Mac; for instance, if your Mac came with Pages, you'll have been asked to "accept" that app under your Apple ID, and from then on it's permanently linked to that Apple ID.
  
  – Gordon Davisson
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Note that you can delete everything associated with a particular user by deleting their profile in System Preferences > Users & Groups. Authenticate, select their profile and click the minus button at bottom left. you will be given a choice of how to delete the profile. But like Gordon says apps that they put on the Mac don't belong to you and you have to delete them and then buy them again.
  
  – Steve Chambers
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I gave up and formatted which ended up being a bad idea as now no matter how I try and create a new partition, GUID, MBR or Apple it always gives the error: 'the disk doesnt use the GUID partition table scheme'
  
  – krhm
  6 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

0

It sounds like the problem is that you have apps that were purchased under the old Apple ID. When you purchase an app, it's permanently linked with the Apple ID you made the purchase under. This is true even for free apps.

If this is what's going on, you'll need to delete those apps from the computer, and then repurchase/download them under the Apple ID that you want to use on that Mac going forward. For paid apps, this does mean you'll need to buy them again. When you purchase apps, you are purchasing them, and you're not allowed to pass them on to someone else; they need to buy their own apps. (Well, except for family sharing.)

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

Gordon DavissonGordon Davisson

26.3k44451

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  '...when trying to update the Mac OS apps only, as I've uninstalled everything but them'. Already done this.
  
  – krhm
  yesterday
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Which specific apps? Those supplied as part of the basic OS (like iTunes and Safari) aren't tied to Apple IDs, so this doesn't apply to them. But anything that shows up as an app in the App Store -- including free Apple apps -- are tied to an Apple ID. This even applies to any apps that came bundled with the Mac; for instance, if your Mac came with Pages, you'll have been asked to "accept" that app under your Apple ID, and from then on it's permanently linked to that Apple ID.
  
  – Gordon Davisson
  yesterday
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Note that you can delete everything associated with a particular user by deleting their profile in System Preferences > Users & Groups. Authenticate, select their profile and click the minus button at bottom left. you will be given a choice of how to delete the profile. But like Gordon says apps that they put on the Mac don't belong to you and you have to delete them and then buy them again.
  
  – Steve Chambers
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I gave up and formatted which ended up being a bad idea as now no matter how I try and create a new partition, GUID, MBR or Apple it always gives the error: 'the disk doesnt use the GUID partition table scheme'
  
  – krhm
  6 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

It sounds like the problem is that you have apps that were purchased under the old Apple ID. When you purchase an app, it's permanently linked with the Apple ID you made the purchase under. This is true even for free apps.

If this is what's going on, you'll need to delete those apps from the computer, and then repurchase/download them under the Apple ID that you want to use on that Mac going forward. For paid apps, this does mean you'll need to buy them again. When you purchase apps, you are purchasing them, and you're not allowed to pass them on to someone else; they need to buy their own apps. (Well, except for family sharing.)

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

Gordon DavissonGordon Davisson

26.3k44451

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

Gordon DavissonGordon Davisson

26.3k44451

answered yesterday

Gordon DavissonGordon Davisson

26.3k44451

answered yesterday

Gordon DavissonGordon Davisson

26.3k44451