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remove main admin account

Just got my new MacBook Pro with M1 chip, but I got in too much of a hurry and logged in to my apple account before I had done the file transfer from my older MacBook Pro.

I need to remove my admin account on the new so I can do a proper transfer from the other laptop. Do I need to restore to factory settings?

Please advise



Posted on Feb 2, 2021 6:31 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 2, 2021 7:40 PM

Hi mrnugz,


You could do either of the following:


Erase and reinstall macOS (requires an Internet connection and long download time)


  1. Shut down your MacBook Pro (M1).
  2. Press and hold the power button until it starts to load Startup Options.
  3. When the Startup Options window appears, select Options, then click Continue.
  4. If you're prompted to authenticate with your password, do so to continue.
  5. Select Disk Utility and click Continue.
  6. Select Macintosh HD from the sidebar and click Erase. Format as APFS, and click "Erase Volume Group".
  7. Quit Disk Utility, then install macOS.
  8. When the reinstall is complete, Setup Assistant will appear, which includes a migration assistant.



Use Migration Assistant


Steps 1-5 are optional. I include them here in case you gave your current account a similar name to the account you want to migrate.


  1. Open System Preferences -> Users and Groups.
  2. Click the padlock and enter your admin password when prompted.
  3. Create a new administrator account. Name it "Temporary" - you'll be deleting this account after the migration.
  4. When finished, log out of your current account, and log into the new temporary admin.
  5. Go to System Preferences -> Users and Groups, and delete your old user account. (Choose Delete the Home Folder when prompted.)
  6. Using the temporary admin, open Migration Assistant, located in Applications -> Utilities.
  7. Choose "From another Mac, Time Machine backup or startup disk."
  8. Follow the onscreen instructions to migrate your data.
  9. Once the migration is complete, delete the temporary admin account if it still exists.
2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 2, 2021 7:40 PM in response to mrnugz

Hi mrnugz,


You could do either of the following:


Erase and reinstall macOS (requires an Internet connection and long download time)


  1. Shut down your MacBook Pro (M1).
  2. Press and hold the power button until it starts to load Startup Options.
  3. When the Startup Options window appears, select Options, then click Continue.
  4. If you're prompted to authenticate with your password, do so to continue.
  5. Select Disk Utility and click Continue.
  6. Select Macintosh HD from the sidebar and click Erase. Format as APFS, and click "Erase Volume Group".
  7. Quit Disk Utility, then install macOS.
  8. When the reinstall is complete, Setup Assistant will appear, which includes a migration assistant.



Use Migration Assistant


Steps 1-5 are optional. I include them here in case you gave your current account a similar name to the account you want to migrate.


  1. Open System Preferences -> Users and Groups.
  2. Click the padlock and enter your admin password when prompted.
  3. Create a new administrator account. Name it "Temporary" - you'll be deleting this account after the migration.
  4. When finished, log out of your current account, and log into the new temporary admin.
  5. Go to System Preferences -> Users and Groups, and delete your old user account. (Choose Delete the Home Folder when prompted.)
  6. Using the temporary admin, open Migration Assistant, located in Applications -> Utilities.
  7. Choose "From another Mac, Time Machine backup or startup disk."
  8. Follow the onscreen instructions to migrate your data.
  9. Once the migration is complete, delete the temporary admin account if it still exists.

remove main admin account

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