Preferences Error - There was an error in Users & Groups preferences.

Hi,

When I go to System Preferences -> Users and Groups, I get the below error and unable to proceed.


There was an error in Users & Groups preferences.


Please help.

MacBook Air

Posted on Sep 16, 2022 08:09 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 20, 2022 09:52 AM

Hello sumesh49,


We suggest starting your Mac in safe mode to see if the issue persists. Safe mode will help to isolate the issue and also does a basic check on your Mac. You can find the steps for using safe mode here:


How to use safe mode
Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

Apple silicon
1.) Shut down your Mac.
2.) Turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button until you see the startup options window.
3.) Select your startup disk, then press and hold the Shift key while clicking “Continue in Safe Mode.”
4.) Log in to your Mac. You might be asked to log in again.

Intel processor
1.) Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
2.) Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac. 
3.) You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support


Let us know if that helps.


Take care.

Similar questions

8 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 20, 2022 09:52 AM in response to sumesh49

Hello sumesh49,


We suggest starting your Mac in safe mode to see if the issue persists. Safe mode will help to isolate the issue and also does a basic check on your Mac. You can find the steps for using safe mode here:


How to use safe mode
Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

Apple silicon
1.) Shut down your Mac.
2.) Turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button until you see the startup options window.
3.) Select your startup disk, then press and hold the Shift key while clicking “Continue in Safe Mode.”
4.) Log in to your Mac. You might be asked to log in again.

Intel processor
1.) Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
2.) Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac. 
3.) You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support


Let us know if that helps.


Take care.

Oct 3, 2022 12:22 PM in response to bailier

I noticed this same error for the first time a week ago. My user account is an Admin level account. Prior to receiving the "Users & Groups preferences" error I noticed one of the other accounts (a Standard user account) had "lost" its icon image on the login screen. This was an account that was migrated when I setup my MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020). The Macbook Pro is running the Monterey OS, and it is current (v12.6).


Since I no longer use or need the migrated Standard account I decided to remove it from Users & Groups and get it off the login screen. When I attempted to do that (using my Admin account) is when I received the Preferences error.


I have followed all of the Safe Mode instructions given here in this forum thread, to no avail. I also tried moving the .plist file from the Library/Preferences to the Desktop and restarting, as suggested in a separate forum thread. No fix.


Other info: Ironically, when I logged in using the migrated Standard user account and checked "Users & Groups" I received NO error message at all, and could navigate freely everywhere in Preferences, within the limitations of that Standard account.


I only receive the "Users & Groups Preferences" error when using my Admin level account.


What do you suggest as the next level of troubleshooting?


Thanks!

Oct 3, 2022 04:00 PM in response to PanhandleOldMan

Good luck w/Terminal. And yes, please do report back and let us know what the outcome is. I'm still studying the issue.


I have two other Standard accounts on this Macbook... one belongs to my wife (who almost never uses the machine), and the other is the "faceless" account that was created during the migration at setup. I just need to remove the migrated account.


The core problem, though is the "User & Groups preferences" error when using my own (Admin level) account. If I understand your theory, it may have something to do with the "broken" Standard account... That's interesting, because I noticed the concurrence of the two issues -- the icon image being removed from the migrated Standard account, and the preferences error received by my own account -- in close proximity to one another. So, superstition aside, there may be a connection there.


I'm standing by to hear the results of your Terminal process.

Oct 4, 2022 04:17 PM in response to PanhandleOldMan

I did some more dart throwing (google "darts") and found a site that made a little more sense (to me) re using terminal command line:


https://medium.com/macoclock/how-to-delete-a-user-account-on-macos-54623c84f336


I found and used this command to delete the "faceless" standard user on my macbook:


sudo /usr/bin/dscl . -delete /Users/<user name>


I then closed terminal session, shut down the macbook, and powered back on. The faceless user was removed from the login screen, and I am once again able to access Users & Groups from my admin level account without getting a "Users & Groups preferences" error message.


Problem is solved.


This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Preferences Error - There was an error in Users & Groups preferences.

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