Tutorial on changing your "short name". (The name that appears as your home folder in Finder).
Yes, this was uploaded in 2012 but it still works as 2016, and please read the description if you are confused about anything.
This works in Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite. Please comment if it didn't work for you; I know how tempting the dislike button is when something goes wrong, but it's not the end of the world, please contact me and I will try my best to help. :)
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If you have any questions related to the video or suggestions for future videos, please write them in the comments below. Thanks!
This may be difficult to some people, so do not make any mistakes. Proceed at your own risk. It is tested and works, but each situation is different.
Lost your files?
Read:
You didn't lose anything, don't worry, check your users folder (in Macintosh HD) and if your original home folder name is there, double click it and make sure all your files are there. That is the home folder. In the users folder, you should also see the home folder you are logged in with. That is the empty new one that was created when you logged in, and that's why none of your files are there. The possible cause of this was that you didn't choose the right home folder in the System Preferences advanced pane. To reverse this process, in the root user, open System Preferences, and navigate to the advanced pane the same way as before. Then under the Home Directory place, go to users, and select the folder with your files in it. That's the home directory that the computer didn't log in as. The home directory that it did log in as was the new home folder, which is why your files weren't there. Save all settings, log out, and log back in, hopefully fixed.
If your files are "deleted" although they will never be, please don't worry, nothing is deleted, it is there, just not loading when you log on. Just enable the root user again, that doesn't affect what you have. Log in to the root user and open system preferences. Right click for advanced again, and now do the following. Check to make sure you have an alias like said in the video at 2:18 and now make sure you click it once so it's blue. Now click the button that says "Choose...". Make sure your user folder has NO SPACES. This is VERY important. If it does, immediately go back to the users folder in finder and change it. Click on your users folder in the Choose section. Make sure it's open, and then click Choose. Now in the box that says Home directory, make sure that your username is there followed by /Users/ and make sure there are no spaces. Don't type anything here, if there are spaces, directly change it through finder, not through the white box in advanced. Click Ok and lock system preferences. Now just open finder in the root user, and click "Go" in the menubar. Then click computer. Open Macintosh HD, open Users. Now make sure the folder you selected in system preferences is there. Double click that folder, and make sure all your files are there. Nothing will ever get deleted, so don't worry about that. Now just press the apple on the top right and shut down your computer. If it says an admin is logged in, use your username and password and it will shut down. Wait a couple seconds and start your computer. Log into your account and hopefully everything will be there. If this doesn't work, let me know in the comments. To follow this tutorial, every step needs to be followed exactly how its written, and it's easy to make a mistake, and it happens, so don't worry. I'm sure your files are still there, just see if this helps. Thanks for watching! Show less
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