In this post, we show you how to add a new user to your Mac, talk about why you’d want to, and discuss some of the aspects you’ll need to note when going through the process.
Why You’d Want to Add a New User to Your Mac
Unlike desktop computers, laptops, smaller form factor devices, and wearables such as the Apple Watch, feel more “personal.” In other words, your phone and watch will only have one user. While it may seem this way for your Mac Mini, MacBook, or iPad, they often have multiple users. For example:
Your Mac mini (or more likely your MacBook) could factor into schoolwork for your children.An iPad is a good way to give younger people an activity while you see to other tasks.You may have a limited budget, so you’ll share a MacBook among everyone you live with.In a workplace, a front house computer might have many users throughout a day, depending on the nature of the business.
There are many more scenarios, but you get the point here. Computers are communal in many ways. That is why it’s a good idea to keep different users separated, so that each can have their own documents, apps, setups, and more. This gives everyone using a machine a way to personalize the experience. One of the ways you can put this into practice is to add a new user to your Mac. We’ll take a look at this next.
How to Add a New User to Your Mac
You’ll find user information on the “System Preferences -> Users & Groups screen.” If you begin to type this into Spotlight or Alfred, you’ll go straight to it. To add a new user to your Mac, click the Plus icon in the left toolbar. On the resulting screen, you’ll need to fill in the empty fields. They’re all straightforward, and it should take no more than a minute. One field to take care of, though, is the New Account drop-down. This lets you change the global permissions for the user. We’d recommend keeping the option as Standard or Sharing Only. The Group setting lets you specify a name and applies a set of permissions you can assign to others, much in the way the defaults can. Once you’ve filled in the field, click the “Create User” button and let the Mac do its thing. After a few seconds, you’ll see the new user appear in the Other Users list. At this point, you’re able to log out as a user from the Apple menu and log in as another user. You can also set some Login Options by clicking the relevant option. The key setting here is the the ability to set fast user switching. This lets you change the logged-in user from the menu bar without logging everyone else out. It’s great for busy households that often pass devices around on a regular basis.
In Summary
Computers and devices are expensive, and this goes double for Apple products. As such, some devices move between different members of a household or workplace. Though, if you add a new user to your Mac – or a number of them – everyone can have their own space without affecting others using the machine. If you’re looking to hide user accounts on your Mac, we’ve covered this too. Do you want to add a new user to your Mac, and if so, what are the reasons? Let us know in the comments section below!
