i tried to changed my admin name maybe i did wrong after and do the restart. voila i can't unlock the key anywhere in setting anymore. what is the best moved now ? thank you for respond- MacBook high sierra version 10.13.6
If you don't know if you have a backup, then you almost certainly don't.
OK, at this point, you probably need to follow the instructions Apple provides for this: Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder - Apple Support
The important bit, which I think you did not do, is to create a new administrator account, log out of your account and into the new one, and change your old account from the new one. And absolutely make a back-up of your computer first!
You might also consider making an appointment at an Apple Genius Bar to see if the techs can help you to do this, if you are not technical and feel this sort of thing is beyond your comfort level.
Did you change them from the User and Groups preference pane by right-clicking on your account and selecting "advanced options" (ignoring the warning about the risks of doing that)? Or what exactly, step-by-step, did you do - to the best of your ability to recall?
What happens when you try to unlock the preference pane? Does a password dialog box appear? What name is in it above the password?
No one can help you without sufficient details about what steps you actually did.
Yes i changed it in user and group by clicking the advance option , then I renamed only the username and account name then I restart , then realized i did something wrong coz I can’t go back anymore to unlock even i enter the password
OK, so I'm starting to follow you - but, I am not aware of any ability to change the account name. When I open advanced options on my own account to check what can be modified, the account name is not modifiable. As far as I can tell, the only things that can be changed are: User ID, Group, Full Name, Login Shell (from a drop down menu), Home Directory (from a Finder chooser) and linked Apple ID.
You also didn't answer my question about trying to unlock this preference pane - what name appears in the password dialog that pops up when you click the lock icon? Is it the old Full Name, the new one...something else...nothing? What appears in the User Name field?
If it appears blank and you manually write in the NEW name and then the password, what happens?
You say it appears blank, and then the old name came back, but have you used the new name? For that matter, are you using the new name and password anywhere? e.g., to log in to the computer (or do you have automatic login enabled instead), to log into your keychain?
Can you use the new user name and password anywhere?
the old name appear when i open the macbook, don't understand even i rename it already. i try to use the new name and the old name to unlock the key and no joy , still can't access. i just renamed the account name and full name and no change of password thats it and i restart , after that no more access
What, exactly did you do to try and change your name? And what name - your user name?
I just change my admin username and account name then i did the restart that’s it and I can’t go back and unlock 🔓 now
appear blank and then the other day the old name come back butl the password not work anymore even i didn't change
just change the account name and full name then i restart thats it
Do you have a Time Machine backup? I'd probably try to revert to a backup, to be honest.
not sure , by the way thanks for your time and info , I'm not kind of techy but now maybe i learn from my mistake
can't unlock the key to change system preference in user and group
