making me the administrator of my own computer and transfer my files

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Level 1

4 points

making me the administrator of my own computer and transfer my files

My spouse purchases a new Mac mini for me and then proceeded to load all the files from a backup of the old computer. The problem is they were all under his administrative account and downloading the backup recreated his user account on my computer. . Furthermore, I he somehow created two accounts under his name.

I have added a user account for myself and changed my user ID to have Administrative Privileges. I need to migrate all my files and the apps/ programs to my user ID. Or just convert his user ID to my own.

Yesterday, he was logged into his account on his MAC and all the screens he was opening were popping open on my computer and his earbuds kept connecting to my computer. When he "forgot" the earbuds on my computer his forgot them as well. when he added them back, they added back on his ( yes, I was logged in under his user ID account because that is where all my files are.)

I need to transfer all administrative rights to my computer to me, while still having the ability to access all the apps on the computer. I also need all my folders to be under my user ID. He removed all his files when he purchased a new computer.

Please help

Posted on Mar 9, 2025 07:36 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 9, 2025 08:56 AM in response to carriblue

You and your spouse are a little behind the 8-ball as you're trying to set up this new Mac.

You've already copied all the files and folders from the old Mac to the new, you just need to copy your folders from his account to yours manually and then probably adjust the access privileges to of those folders and files., You can then also remove the extraneous user account. Your user account has admin rights you can do this.

To copy your files from his account to yours, open two Finder windows. Navigate the first to his user folder and the second to yours. Then you can simply drag and drop any (or all) of your folders from his to your user folder. If any of these folders retain the prohibited icon 🚫 after you've copied them (likely), then you'll have to adjust their permissions so you can access their contents as your own. Change permissions for files, folders, or disks on Mac - Apple Support

Now you can clean up the extra user accounts by going to System Settings... > Users & Groups and deleting them. to free up the space on the drive. After, I suggest you create a fresh virgin user account just for him should he ever wish or need to access that computer. The fresh unused account won't use much space on the drive.

Finally, to really make this machine yours, not only do you need to have your own Mac user account with admin privileges, which you do, you also need to create your own Apple Account (Apple ID).

Apple Account - Official Apple Support

How to create a new Apple Account - Apple Support

This will allow you to separate your email, calendar, contacts, media, notes, app store purchases, photos and iCloud sync services from those of your spouse. After this is done you can still share these items by using the Family Share feature of iCloud, so you can still have access to apps and pics, music, subscriptions, etc.

Log into your Mac admin account and then sign out of his Apple Account in System Settings. Then sign in with your own Apple Account ID and password.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,074 points

Mar 9, 2025 10:21 AM in response to carriblue

Before you back yourself into a corner you can't get out of, PLEASE call AppleCare ASAP. Think the issue through so you can explain it well. You can find the phone number in your area by clicking:

AppleCare Contact Info

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Answer 3

carriblue Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 9, 2025 08:44 AM in response to carriblue

To make matters worse I just tried switching to my used Id which is now administer level and all I’m getting is the wheel of death.

I tried a hard reboot( lost all the screens I had open under my husbands id) and went under my id once more and again the wheel of death. So frustrating……

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making me the administrator of my own computer and transfer my files

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