Mac Studio freezes at login after changing user account name

Hi y'all. Hope I can get some help here.

So, I'm a video editor and was laid off from my job of 10 years. I used a personal computer for a long time for my work, and then eventually got a work computer and migrated my personal computer to my work computer. Now, years later, I've been laid off. They want their 2025 M4 Max Mac Studio back.

I bought my own 2026 M5 Max Mac Studio and I backed everything up from my work computer via Time Machine. They had some admin stuff on the work computer but when I set up my new Mac Studio via Time Machine and didn't select the admin user accounts, all those softwares seemed to be left behind. (Also, the old Mac Studio is on Sequoia. I don't think I can update it. My new Mac Studio is on Golden Gate)

Everything seemed to be working great and I had full permissions after setting it up. One problem is, I wanted to change my user account name and home folder because I didn't want it to have the company who just laid me off's name on it lol

I tried something via ChatGPT and Terminal initially. Made a new admin user account, etc, etc. Restarted. Tried logging in. Spinning wheel. Force restarted the Mac again, tried logging into the other user account. Also frozen. Eventually, had to wipe the entire Mac and start over.

Then followed these instructions from Apple which again involved making a new admin user account. Restarted. Tried logging in. No spinning wheel this time but it froze at login, so same result. Other admin account frozen at login too. Had to wipe the Mac and start over.

I felt like I maybe mixed up a step the second time I tried it, so I did it again. Third time around, I followed Apple's instructions PERFECTLY. Felt extremely confident I did everything correctly. I restarted. Tried logging in. Same thing as last time. No spinning wheel but froze at login for the account I changed and the admin account I set up.

One other thing that maybe matters or maybe doesn't: my user ID was showing up as 504 it seemed like, even if I only transferred 2 user accounts via Time Machine. (I had a "personal" MacOS user account I never used and then the user account I actually used for work. I transferred both during 2/3 of my attempts setting up my Mac Studio)

Any idea what I might be doing wrong? Any alternatives to this? Like, I'm almost tempted to try to somehow rebuild everything manually with a fresh new account but since I'm a video editor, I'm concerned about some plug-ins and whatnot that could be deeply buried in Application Support folders and whatnot.

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to give as much context as possible.

Appreciate any help I could get!

Posted on Oct 19, 2026 11:56 AM

1 reply

John Galt

Level 10 (162,806 points)

Oct 20, 2026 10:34 AM in response to krishansonlovesyou

First things first, your difficulties may be a bit too complicated to unravel over this support site. If all else fails the right thing to do might be to contact Apple Support, since initial one-on-one setup assistance is complimentary when purchasing new Macs from Apple. My opinion is that you already paid for that service, and why not avail yourself of it. Apple will spend as much time as necessary with you to get things up and running.

If you want to go it alone, read on.

As I understand it, after taking a detour down the ChatGPT rabbit hole you eventually got to the point where you completely erased your 2026 Studio to start anew. That went well and you arrived at the "Hello" language selection screen which is exactly where you should start. You proceeded with the usual "setup assistant" steps, until it asked if you want to populate its contents from a Time Machine backup, which you chose. Correct so far?

Then, you chose to migrate all (both) your User Accounts from the TM backup. That took some time but it eventually completed, leaving you at a login screen. Correct?

Theoretically, migrating in that manner will seamlessly result in the ability to use that new Mac as though it were the same (old) Mac you used in the past. Same settings, same programs (*), same documents, same everything. It's the right way to do things.

(*) It's the "same programs" that may be the problem. If they were non-Apple apps, you may need to exclude them from migration. Since you don't have that older Mac any more (you surrendered it to your previous employer) then using MA may have transferred certain support files that those programs associated with different hardware — notwithstanding the fact you were their legitimate owner. If my suspicion is correct then I would attempt the migration again, while de-selecting "Applications". Then, you would need to obtain those programs again, with whatever license keys / identifying information that enables you to use them.

In other words I agree your suspicion about "... plug-ins and whatnot that could be deeply buried in Application Support folders and whatnot" may be the reason the Mac locks up after attempting to log in.

You have nothing to lose by trying that, but in the end I think you would be better served by contacting Apple and working with them. This site will involve too much time consuming back and forth questions and answers that can take days.

Start here: Official Apple Support. The complimentary support period is 90 days from the date of purchase.

Edit to add: I did not pay much attention to your initial concern about changing the name of your macOS User Account and Home folder, because that would not be a factor in setting up a new Mac, even after migration. I surmise I may be missing something about that concern though. Did your difficulties arise after setting up the new Mac, and subsequent to changing the User Account name?