If you're now on Lion (10.7.x) or later, see the green box below.If you've recently used Migration Assistant instead of Setup Assistant, and still have access to the old Mac or backups you transferred from, you may be able to fix it. Even if it is, sometimes an Admin user can disable permissions, or change the permissions on the disk or partition, but that can't be done on Time Machine backups, and may be difficult to do, or cause other problems, on other disks. This won't happen if the files are on a disk or partition where ownership is not enabled. That means that the transferred user account is treated as a different account when trying to access files in other places, such as backups: it's #502, but the files belong to #501, so you'll see the "no entry" icon and/or messages about not having permission to the files/folders. All the permissions on the files in that account are changed to correspond to the new UID. The user account name, password, data, etc., will all be identical to the old Mac, but the UID will be different. If you then use Migration Assistant to transfer the 501 account from another Mac, it cannot keep the 501 on the new Mac, so it's assigned the next available number, usually 502. When you don't transfer your stuff via Setup Assistant, but instead create a user account, it's assigned #501. Unlock the padlock at the bottom of the window, then control-click (right-click) the account in the sidebar and select Advanced Options, and you'll see this window:Īs noted, do not change anything on that window. System Preferences > Users & Groups (or System Preferences > Accounts on Snow Leopard or Leopard). These must be unique on each Mac, and are the basis for permissions throughout your system and other disks (not the user Account name). OSX assigns these automatically as user accounts are created. This is because of the way accounts and permissions work:Įvery user account has a (mostly hidden) User ID, also known as a UID, associated with it. However, with Migration Assistant, permissions to files on other disks/partitions usually cannot be preserved. When a user account is transferred via Setup Assistant when the new Mac first starts up, it's transferred "intact" - any permissions to files on other disks or partitions (especially backups) are preserved. These same permissions may also apply to files that user may have on other disks or partitions, especially backups. This is clear when you have multiple users on the same Mac, such as for different family members - each has its own preferences, settings, and data (such as pictures, email, and documents) and everything is kept separate and private from the other users. Normally, one user, even an Admin user, doesn't have permission to access files belonging to other users. Lost permission to files on other disks/partitions See Transferring files to another account for details and suggested procedures. You can copy many things from one account to another, but that can be tedious and difficult. If the account you created doesn't have anything you need, you can just delete it via the System Preferences > Users & Groups (or Accounts) window.īut if the account you created does have data you want to keep, you're in a bit of a pickle - there's no easy way to "merge" the two accounts. If that's going to be a problem, see the pink box below. Note that the transferred account has probably lost permission to see and change its files on other disks/partitions, especially backups. Log on to the one you transferred - it should have your data. Look in System Preferences > Users & Groups (System Preferences > Accounts on Snow Leopard or Leopard). The reason is, you now have an extra user account the one you created plus the one(s) you migrated. If you selected the last option, and created a user account, then later on used Migration Assistant, even if it seemed to work you may not find your data. New Mac, you're asked by Setup Assistant if you want to transfer your information, on this window (Mountain Lion shown, others are similar):
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