hi all-
my wife and i are separating, and she has a macbook pro that has been her primary machine for years, i never touch it unless she needs IT support, hahaa. however it is established under my user ID.
i've searched on how to change ownership, but cannot find anything on doing so while leaving all documents and settings intact. is there a simple and direct way to do this?
thanks in advance!
MacBook Pro 15″, 11.7
Further to what Phil0124 has already written,
Just remember that any apps, movies or music that you got from the App Store/iTunes Store/Music Store/Movies Store under your Apple ID will no longer work under your wife's Apple ID.
All of your purchases are tied to your Apple ID, and can't be transferred to another Apple ID.
For more information, see Install purchases from the App Store on Mac - Apple Support
Further to what Phil0124 has already written,
Just remember that any apps, movies or music that you got from the App Store/iTunes Store/Music Store/Movies Store under your Apple ID will no longer work under your wife's Apple ID.
All of your purchases are tied to your Apple ID, and can't be transferred to another Apple ID.
For more information, see Install purchases from the App Store on Mac - Apple Support
What is established under your user ID? The main computer login user? Or the Apple ID used for services such as iCloud, Messages, the App Store etc..?
You can Sign out of your Apple ID and sign in with hers in System Settings ➜ Apple ID.
Messages App ➜ Messages Menu ➜ Settings ➜ @ iMessage ➜ Apple ID
Facetime App ➜ Facetime Menu ➜ Settings ➜ General ➜ Apple ID.
Mac App Store App ➜ Store Menu ➜ Sign Out
This should not affect any documents at all.
If the main login user is the mount using your ID, then you can create a new user for her, and move her documents to that user's folder.
both the login and the user ID for apple services. i don't honestly use icloud, so that isn't a problem.
if i establish her as a second account, can i then make her the admin and remove my user account without causing problems?
thanks so much for your reply.
ninthname wrote:
both the login and the user ID for apple services. i don't honestly use icloud, so that isn't a problem.
if i establish her as a second account, can i then make her the admin and remove my user account without causing problems?
thanks so much for your reply.
You can create a new user account, and yes establish it as an admin. Go to System Settings / Preferences ➜ Users and Groups ➜ Add Account, and follow the prompts from there to set it up as an admin. Once you are done, log in to that new account, move the documents to her new user folder, and remove your own admin account from the device. Log out of all the services as outlined above, and then on her new account log in with her Apple ID instead.
One more under-appreciated app you may have installed:
a newer than factory-issued version of MacOS.
that is ALSO tagged with the Apple-ID of the "buyer" even though it was "on sale for $0" and can not be upgraded again without logging in with the same Apple-ID.
You can not install older MacOS over newer MacOS.
if you were selling instead, you would back up all the files, ERASE the drive, and install the factory-original version of MacOS, which requires only the bare Mac. Any MacOS upgrades from there would be tagged with her new Apple-ID.
You could then restore her files from backup.
changing ownership without affecting docs?
