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81: Creating a second user

Do you have little brothers or sisters? Have a roommate that wants to use your Mac all the time? Create a second user on your machine so they can't access your files.

To create a second user, go to the System Preferences and select the "accounts" button that looks like two heads. Click the yellow lock button in the lower left corner and log in with your machine password. Once you have logged in, click the plus sign just above the lock.

In the window that opens, select a name for the user, a password if necessary and then determine what level of accessibility the new user will have. If they are administrators, they can remove applications, install applications and manage your machine as if they were you, but will not have access to your files. If you elect to make them standard users, they will be able to use all the applications on your machine but will not be able to install any additional applications nor remove any. If you elect to turn on parental controls, you will control the applications to which your new user has access.

This article was last edited on May-05-2008 2:54 pm
This article can be referenced by its article number: 81 or by any of the following keywords: new user accounts