# can't delete user account..



## alexandr (Sep 15, 2004)

i'm having troubles deleting a test-account a set up a while ago. i can't seem to get rid of it, although i've tried to delete it several times on system prefs. i get the message saying alt the content in this user 'home'-filder will be lost, and moved to deleted users-folder.. i press ok, wait a couple of minutes and it seems like it is removing the user. but when the message disappears the user it still there. i've tried restart, and the user is still active..

whats wrong, or what am i doing wrong? the user's got admin rights by the way..

alex.


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## MDLarson (Sep 15, 2004)

Umm, I had this problem before.  Some UNIX guru gave me a tip.  I think you have to temporarily establish yourself as root (using -sudo or something like that in the Terminal) and delete it via the command line (the Terminal)... I think.


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## Satcomer (Sep 16, 2004)

Better yet, log out of your Admin's account. Then at the login window click choose "Other" then log in as Root (if you enabled root). This will account will let you delete the user. Just don't do anything harsh or stay in Root long. Root is the ultimate Superuser and changes can't be undone! So once the account is deleted, get out of root!!!


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## fryke (Sep 16, 2004)

Don't bash me for even bringin' it up, but it's probably a permissions problem. But I don't mean to go to Disk Utility and 'fix permissions'. Rather, you should go to the Terminal and become the owner of said test-account's home folder. That way, Sys Prefs should be able to remove the stuff. It's not _normal_, mind you, Sys Prefs should be able to do it without such hassle, but apparently something's wrong with the permissions of the test account.

So: (Don't type the " in the commands...)

1.) Go to the Terminal and type "sudo -s" and hit enter. It asks you for your password and eventually lets you be 'root' on the shell.

2.) Type "chown -Rf YOURUSERSHORTNAME:YOURUSERSHORTNAME /Users/TESTUSERSHORTNAME/" replacing the names with your user's short name and the test user's short name.

3.) Go to Sys Prefs and try again.


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## fryke (Sep 16, 2004)

Oh and: I would NOT just delete the files as root, because the system will still think the user's there, which could possibly lead to other problems. Or you'd have to get into NetInfo in order to then remove the user from the system. I would urge you to try the stuff I've said in above message instead. Easier, cleaner for Mac OS X.


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## bobw (Sep 16, 2004)

Not a bad idea to keep a test account.


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## filthuponyouOSX (Mar 25, 2005)

well I looked at this thread and some other forums, and found how easily you can delete users from your Mac.

1. Open terminal
2. type in "sudo -s"
3. type in your password
4. type in "nicl / -delete /users/USERSHORTNAME"
5. done go see if it works in sys prefs. ::ha::


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## Mackey (Mar 4, 2009)

Hey, when I type in sudo -s it sais that I am not a sudouser? WTF?
Can someone help me?


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## ra3ndy (Mar 5, 2009)

That means your user is not an administrator.


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## MDLarson (Mar 5, 2009)

Hi Mackey, and welcome to the forums.  Lots of good help here.  

I would recommend asking your question here (by starting a new thread).  This current thread you just posted in is nearly four years old.


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## Mackey (Mar 5, 2009)

Shit. 
But is there a way to delete account without beeing an admin?


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## Giaguara (Mar 5, 2009)

No.


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## Naser (Aug 14, 2011)

Hi,
I have a similar problem-- cannot delete a user on my Mackbook pro.
how it started: I tried to delete the user and the home folder securely it took about 10 hours but still it was showing deleting and I though it is not working and I forced quite the system preferences.

I tried to delete again without "delete home folder securely" but I don't get that option and get the message the user/folder will be permanently deleted. I click ok but still the user is there.
I tried to delete through the root users, the same result, I tried to change the ownership as described by fryke the owner ship change step was successful but the situation is the same, cannot delete and get the same message.

I tried to delete it from the terminal as explained by filthuponyouOSX and get the following message:

bash-3.2# nicl/ -delete/users/MinaSayed
bash: nicl/: No such file or directory
bash-3.2# 

I tried the same command from the root user as well the same message.

I tried to login with the user and it is there and it is working the only change is that I don't see the home folder for this user

can any one help to get red of this ghost?


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## Giaguara (Aug 14, 2011)

You managed to delete the home folder for user MinaSayed. But the account still exists in other locations in the system, such as Netinfo. The user has still a number of associated permissions with it, and unless you delete also that user, the only thing that is missing is his/her home folder.

This was written for 10.5, but I don't think the syntax has since changed much so it should still work for 10.6 and 10.7 too. 
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20071030151739791
(the longer post with the scripts explains a bit more about dscl)


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## Naser (Aug 15, 2011)

thanks Giaguara,
I followed the link you sent and tried to implement the 10 steps instructions. Unfortunately on step 4. I get the message "no such file or directory nothing found to load


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## alexmack (Sep 29, 2011)

this is just a guess, as i have had the same trouble deleting my original admin user account after migrating old setup and establishing new user profile. so here is my theory: there is a permanent partition in the newer machines that is essentially a built in boot disk, so that if you need to boot in without using your hard drive, you can use this little partition. therefore, every time you delete it, it just recreates itself as you can't access that partition or erase it. you will see that if you go into your partition area of your disk utilities.
so don't worry about it and be thankful it is there if you need it.


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## bergmark (Nov 25, 2011)

I too was having this problem.  There was nothing I could do in system prefs to delete one account, though I have admin.  It wrote the .dmg containing the user's directory but stopped there, with the user in Users & Groups dimmed.

Then I went and logged out the user.  Deletion then completed normally.  Problem solved.


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