ChangeShortName for Mac

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Key Details of ChangeShortName

easily change the short username in OS X
Last updated on August 25, 2015
There have been 4 updates
Virus scan status:
Clean (it’s extremely likely that this software program is clean)

Developer’s Description

easily change the short username in OS X

One of the most common questions users of Mac OS X ask is "How do I change my short username?" Although OS X provides a simple interface -- the Accounts pane of System Preferences -- for changing a user's long name, there's been no easy way to change the short name of an account once it is created. Until now, that is.

ChangeShortName is an easy-to-use utility that does the dirty work involved in changing the short name of a user's account in Mac OS X (versions 10.4.x and 10.3.x). It can also repair some problems that occur when a user has attempted to change their short username manually and done so incorrectly. For safety, it backs up the NetInfo database beforehand.

Changing your short username is a serious procedure, but ChangeShortName makes doing so easier and safer.

ChangeShortName is "donationware" by James Bucanek and Dan Frakes. Be sure to read the included documentation before using it.

ChangeShortName for Mac

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Full Specifications

GENERAL

Release: May 26, 2007

Latest update: August 25, 2015

Version: 1.3

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Platform: Mac

Operating System

Mac OS X 10.4
Mac OS X 10.3
Mac OS X 10.3.9
Mac OS X

Additional Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3 or higher

POPULARITY

Total Downloads: 2,251

Downloads Last Week: 0

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User Reviews

4.5/5

16 User Votes

Does what it says!
TolgaOctober 27, 2008
Pros
Cons
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />A very handy little program that does what it says in a simple, straightforward fashion. Until this appeared changing a users shortname was a trying process at best via terminal and NetInfoManager and rarely was it done as completely. Kudos to Dan Frakes and co. for a handy little resource! He's been an asset to the Mac community for as long as I can recall (going way back to the classic InformInit)! NOTE: If you are on 10.5 aka Leopard you shouldn't use this! Similar functionality is built into the Users Pref Pane (right click on your user to edit the short name, etc).
Thank you, thank you, thank you...
artie505November 17, 2007
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />After my second erase and install in 24 hours (Don't ask!) I discovered that I'd somehow screwed up and left my long name as my short name. Aaargh!!! So I d/l'd ChangeShortName, skimmed the heavy-duty boiler-plate (What the hey! A third erase and install would have been easier than digesting all those caveats.), and ran the Terminal command. Presto, chango, voila... I'm impressed and will donate!
This great piece software has sorted me out
atnOctober 2, 2007
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />This very simple application really sorted me out after I had modified my short name using Apple's migration assistant ( in the process of a backup before my computer went for repairs). As you will learn from reading the very usefull warning notes provided with this program, you should NEVER change your shortname unless you really have to. And I am still dumbfounded to understand why Apple's own migration assistant program lets you do it with no warning ... At any rate, if you happen to end up with a changed short name after migrating, a lot of useful things will stop working, like the automatic opening of your keychain, or the arborescence of certain applications like dreamweaver. And this fabulously simple program allowed me to revert to my old shortname, and retrieve all these functions. All I have to say is THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH to the developpers who were constructively very reactive to my queries ( you will soon find 10 $ on your paypal account ;-)
Not Perfect but Very Good
andrewfreemanSeptember 10, 2007
Pros
Cons
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />After reading all the scary boilerplate, which, I actually think was good, I felt like I was being grabbed by the short hairs as I changed my short name. The process was uneventful and brief. I did encounter several issues: I had to re-find my iPhoto library, My keychain retained the old name but I was able to create a new one and easily transfer all the data before deleting it. Finally, my Parallels Desktop was not happy, but this was also quite easily fixed by reinstalling it and Windows XP as well. Overall, this is a great product and is much less daunting to use than the Apple multi-step fix. I would definitely choose to use it again. For anyone interested, the cause of my shortname problem was a failure of Migration Assistant on initial boot up of a new machine. This required that I create a user name on the new machine before running the Migration. Unfortunately, I chose my desired username and when I ran Migration Assistant, it said that that name already existed on the new machine and required that I import my Username with a different and undesired short name. Take home message: If you have to create a "dummy" account, chose ANYTHING but the name of the account you want to import!
Not Perfect but Very Good
andrewfreemanSeptember 10, 2007
Pros
Cons
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />After reading all the scary boilerplate, which, I actually think was good, I felt like I was being grabbed by the short hairs as I changed my short name. The process was uneventful and brief. I did encounter several issues: I had to re-find my iPhoto library, My keychain retained the old name but I was able to create a new one and easily transfer all the data before deleting it. Finally, my Parallels Desktop was not happy, but this was also quite easily fixed by reinstalling it and Windows XP as well. Overall, this is a great product and is much less daunting to use than the Apple multi-step fix. I would definitely choose to use it again. For anyone interested, the cause of my shortname problem was a failure of Migration Assistant on initial boot up of a new machine. This required that I create a user name on the new machine before running the Migration. Unfortunately, I chose my desired username and when I ran Migration Assistant, it said that that name already existed on the new machine and required that I import my Username with a different and undesired short name. Take home message: If you have to create a "dummy" account, chose ANYTHING but the name of the account you want to import!
Thank you!
jason162May 14, 2007
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Cons
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This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Thanks for writing and supplying this wonderful application. It worked perfectly on my only account!
BEWDIFUL
macaholicFebruary 9, 2006
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This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Fantastic job. Cudos to the author. Saved hours messing with new/old accounts.
Works great!
MacHoundOctober 5, 2005
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I ran ChangeShortName 1.1.3 last night to fix the account I cloned from my sister-in-law's Mac Mini to my wife's account on our new Mac Mini running 10.4.2. CSN worked just great! Hopefully there won't be any long-term repercussions from doing this, but so far everything looks very good and it couldn't have been easier. (That 40 step instruction list at docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106824, titled "Mas OS X: How to change user short name," is another matter though. Scary stuff there.) ChangeShortName saved me many hours of messing around installing a new account, transferring files and redoing preferences. Thanks so much, James and Dan. I look forward to buying your book.
New download link does not work
david_etterMay 30, 2005
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This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />The FTP link does not work... Also, using the previous 1.1.1 version, I was not able to change my short user name until I logged in as the Root user. Just a little help offered in case someone else is having the same problem. It worked perfectly once I did that.
Did a great job!
jadestormJanuary 20, 2005
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I have a very seasoned account at this point that I wanted to rename and "never got around to it". Mainly because I decided I'd rather spend my time working on things than tracking down all of the instances of my "bad" short name. That said, when I saw this, I decided it would do enough of the work for me so that it wouldn't be too much trouble. Worked like a charm! A couple of notes here and there though: 1. I don't know if this is common, nor if I just missed it in the docs, but you might want to mention that if you are running a "single user" system that doesn't bother with the login screen, that after renaming your account it will bring up the login screen and make you log in. Likewise, you can not sudo after the fact until you have logged out and back in (or rebooted)... or at least I was unable to do so. 2. I don't know if there is any interest in this besides myself, but to ease in the transition, I added a symlink from my new account name to my old one. Made apps that use the full path not get confused. Since I'm the only user on the machine, I'll probably just leave the symlink forever. 3. I actually ended up having to do the same with my keychain file. One of my apps seems to insist on looking for my old account name. (sigh) Everything else went smoothly. So anyway, my point in 2 + 3 is, you may wish to consider throwing in a "try to keep the account backwards compatible with old name" option. Anyway, all things considered, my account was renamed successfully and it worked like a charm. Great work! This is an account that has survived multiple OS upgrades and a year or two of junk. ;) Not to mention a lot of under-the-hood modifications. (as someone quite familiar unix, I can't really leave well enough alone ;D )