February 14, 2024
Requirements:
- MacOS 12 or above . If your Mac is running an OS older than 12 you are out of support, at risk and out of compliance with Mass General Brigham policy. Please contact the Service Desk for assistance with an upgrade. See below for Mac OS 13 (Ventura) procedure.
HOW TO: Create a New User on macOS
- Launch System Preferences from the Apple menu, then click Users & Groups.
- Click the lock icon to unlock, then authenticate with your administrator name and password.
Note: If your Mac is a corporate purchased Apple laptop or desktop, the default password is the unique asset tag found on the bottom or back of your device (case sensitive, and any "0" is a zero). - Click the plus button button below the list of users to create a new user.
- The New Account screen will pop up. Change the New Account type from Standard to Administrator.
- Enter a new Full Name for the new user. You must use your MGB User ID for the account name. The Account Name will be automatically populated. Then enter a secure password for the user and re-enter that password to verify. You may also choose a password hint to help remember this password.
Note: Mass General Brigham policy EISS-9b.2: IT Access Control Standards for Users states that a secure password must be configured on Apple devices. At a minimum, a secure password must have a length of 8 characters, must be alphanumeric containing at least one of each character, and you must not reuse the 4 previous passwords.
- Click Create User. You may also choose to delete the default user by selecting that user and clicking the minus button.
Mac OS 13 (Ventura) procedure:
HOW TO: Create a New User on macOS Ventura
Launch System Preferences from the Apple menu, then click Users & Groups.
Select Add Account
Create the new user using ONLY the MGB user ID eg. FL1234
Create a password.
To use the new account:
Shut down and restart the computer, select the new account. Log in. After a few minutes of setup the new Desktop will launch.