The name of your macOS user account and the name of your home folder must both be the same. Changing these names does not change or reset the password of your user account.
Because doing this incorrectly could damage your account and prevent you from logging in, you should back up your important data before proceeding.
It is possible to rename spaces using an app called Spaces Renamer. It is available on GitHub for free. I am unsure if it can change the 'default' name of desktops as you requested, but it can customize the name of desktops you already have. Please check the below screenshots for an example. The compressed view after pressing F3. A Better Finder Rename for Mac is particularly useful for photographers as it supports all major RAW formats and makes great use of image meta-data. Using the tag-based feature, you can extract an abundance of meta-data information to convert into usable tags, including image size, camera make and model, aperture, shutter speed, and more.
First rename the home folder
- Log out of the account you're renaming, then log in to a different administrator account. (If you don't have another administrator account, you can create one in Users & Groups preferences.)
- Open the Users folder on the startup disk. It contains the home folder for each user. To get there, you can choose Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar, then enter
/Users
. - Rename the user's home folder without using any spaces in the new name. You'll be prompted to enter the administrator name and password that you used to log in. If you're using file sharing to share the home folder, you won't be able to rename it until you stop sharing the folder.
Then rename the account
While still logged out of the account you're renaming, follow these additional steps:
- Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.
- Click , then enter the administrator name and password that you used to log in.
- From the list of users on the left, Control-click the user you're renaming, then choose Advanced Options.
- Change the “Account name” field to match the new name of the home folder. It should have no spaces.
- The account name also appears in the “Home directory” field, after
/Users/
. Change that account name to match the new name of the home folder. - If you want to change the full name associated with your account, update the ”Full name” field as well. It can be any name, and you can use either the full name or the account name to log in to your Mac or make changes that require your name and password.
- Click OK, then restart your Mac.
- Log in to the renamed account, then verify that your old files and folders are visible and the account is working as expected.
Until macOS Yosemite, if you wanted to rename multiple files on a Mac simultaneously, you either had to create an Automator action or use a third party app. Now, however, you can do it from right within the Finder.
There are a number of different options for renaming files, so before we show you how to do it, let’s take a closer look at those.
1. Replace text
This is the simplest way to rename files. You search for text in the existing name and replace it with text you specify. It’s perfect for situations where you have files with names that all have the same text string, say a name or a month, and you need to change that, maybe because it’s misspelled.
2. Add text
This is exactly as it sounds, you leave the existing name intact but add text before or after it.
3. Format
As its name suggests, this one allows to rename the files based on a format you specify. Then you add the text to be used in the name and the files are changed to include that text and one of the following three parameters:
- Counter
- Index
- Date
Once you’ve chosen the text you want to use in the name and the parameter you want to include, you can specify which goes first.
Rename Mac Hard Drive
Download Renamer, a handy utility that renames and organizes multiple files on your Mac. Lightning fast.
Free on SetappHow to batch rename files on Mac
1. Open a new Finder window, navigate to the first file you want to rename and select it.
2. If the other files you want to rename are next to it in the Finder window, press Shift and click on them. If they are not all next to each other, use Command instead of Shift.
3. With all the files to be renamed selected, do one of the following:
- Click the cog icon in the Finder window’s toolbar and choose Rename xx items, where ‘xx’ is the number of files you’ve selected or
- Right-click or Ctrl-click on the selected files and choose Rename xx items from the contextual menu.
4. From the menu at the top of the window that drops down, choose Replace Text, Add Text, or Format.
5. Fill in the boxes in the next window and choose the options you need from the menus.
6. Click Rename.
All the files you selected will be renamed according to the scheme you created when you made the selections in steps 4 and 5. If they don’t change in the way you expected, or you change your mind, press Command-Z to undo the process and give the files back their previous names.
Rename For Mac
If you prefer to point and click instead of using keyboard shortcuts, choose Edit from the Finder’s menu bar and select Undo Rename.
Rename Mac Keyboard
If you need a combination of batch renaming and file organization, there’s a dedicated tool for that — Renamer. Apart from giving your files the new names, Renamer allows to view live previews of the renamed files, organize songs by album/artist/title, cleverly number files, and even edit file extensions.
How to rename a file on Mac
The above method is designed for renaming multiple files simultaneously. If you only need to rename one file, there are easier ways.
- Select the file in the Finder, then click and hold on the file name until it becomes editable. Type the new name, then click anywhere else in the Finder.
- Right-click or Control-click on the file in the Finder and choose Get Info from the contextual menu. Click Rename and type the new name, then click away from the file.
- Select the file and press Command-I to open the Get Info box. Two-thirds of the way down the window, where it says Name & Extension, type the new name. Close the window.
How to rename open documents on Mac
Rename For Mac
To rename a file that’s open in an application, go to the File menu and choose Save As… then type the new name for the file in the box and press Save. In some apps, that support macOS versioning, you can rename an open file by clicking on its name in the toolbar, typing the new name and pressing Return.
How to rename a folder on Mac
The three options above can also be used to rename a folder. It’s important to remember that there are some folders you shouldn’t rename because there are processes and applications in macOS that expect them to have their original name and won’t work properly if they can’t find the folder with that name. These include your user folder and your Documents, Movies, Pictures and Downloads folders.
In addition, you shouldn’t rename any files or folders in your Library folder or the main macOS Library folder.
How to keep your files organised on Mac
Renaming files is a great way of getting better organized and using your Mac more efficiently. Another way to make your Mac work better for you is to get rid of files that are taking up space but that you don’t need. CleanMyMac X is perfect for that. It identifies and removes system files that aren’t needed, junk Photos and iTunes files, Mail attachments, and old and large files.
The System Junk module removes language files you don’t use, caches you no longer need, as well as log files, universal binaries, and more. Photo Junk gets rid of cache files, and will offer to remove storage-hungry RAW files for you. And the iTunes clean up tool deletes broken downloads, outdated backups, and old software updates. You can download it free here. Give it a try and find out how much space you can free up on your Mac.
As you can see, on macOS Yosemite and later, it’s very easy to batch rename files in the Finder. In older versions of macOS, if you want to rename multiple files, you’ll have to use a third party app that’s designed for the purpose or create your own Automator action.