How can I remove an old admin account after Migration Assistant transfer?

I am in the process of migrating information from an old 2010 Mac mini to an M4. I will not be including the application as none of them will work. The issue I have is that on the old Mac Mini I am registered as the administrator and during the migration process it's asking for a password. I assume this is the password I used on the 2010 Mac Mini however I have set the M4 up with my wife as administrator. I don't want to have two administrators with certain operations asking for my admin password such as installing software. What will happen if I click on my old administrator login during the migration process? Will I be listed as an additional administrator, or will it overwrite my wife's administrator information?


If I proceed with the process will I be able to delete myself as administrator and leave only my wife has administrator and only her password will be used for admin operations?

I also don't want the new Mini be called the same name as the 2010 mini.

If these things happen can I change it after the migration process has been completed?


I hope this is clear but if you have any questions for clarification please let me know.


TIA



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Mac mini, macOS 10.13

Posted on May 12, 2025 03:31 PM

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5 replies

May 13, 2025 09:41 AM in response to werdup

Migration Assistant will set up the new computer the same as the old one, based on what transfer options you have selected. When the transfers are completed, you can log into the new Mac with the new User Account name (for your wife) and password and delete the old transferred user or leave it in place as a second admin account. No problem.

May 15, 2025 08:54 PM in response to Ronasara

After a day and a half the migration is complete and what I did not want to happen has happened. The new mini has me listed as the administrator and won't allow me to delete my own admin. My wife's admin is also listed but I wanted her to be the ONLY admin listed.


How do I make her the only admin on this new computer and, if there is a way, what will be the ramifications to files, OS, etc if my admin is removed.

May 16, 2025 07:03 AM in response to werdup

My advice is to keep both admin accounts. You don't have to use both, but having two admin accounts reduces the pain if the single admin account goes bad. And there is some subtle system significance the admin account that the Mac "thinks" is the first or primary admin account.


I don't want to have two administrators with certain operations asking for my admin password such as installing software.

That won't happen. There are no different operations for different admins; all admins have the same privileges

May 16, 2025 08:09 PM in response to werdup

FYI, when migrating to the new system, if you did not want your admin user account on the new Mac, then you could have unchecked it so it would not transfer at all.


If you want to have your old user account on the new Mac, but not to be an "admin", then just go into the "Users & Groups" System Settings and turn off the setting "Allow this user to administer this computer". You can only modify this setting for your user account while logged into your wife's admin account.



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How can I remove an old admin account after Migration Assistant transfer?

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