How to Undelete an Account on a Mac
If you share a Mac computer with co-workers or family, you can create separate user accounts that essentially serve as private work environments to keep your files and documents secure. If you accidentally delete a user account in the system preferences window, you can recover the user's home folder with a few steps.
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Instructions
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1
Boot your Mac. Click on the Apple menu from the desktop, then scroll down to "System Preferences" to open the window.
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2
Locate the "Accounts" pane, then click to open the window.
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3
Add a new administrator user account by clicking on the "+" key. Enter the administrator account password where prompted.
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4
Enter the name and short name you wish for the account. Enter a password, then select "Create Account."
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5
Click on the Apple menu, scroll down to "Log out" then log back in with the new user account you created in Steps 3 and 4.
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6
Double-click on the Macintosh HD icon on the desktop. Locate the "Users" folder, and double-click to open.
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7
Double-click on the disk image (.dmg) with the name of the deleted account inside the folder.
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8
Note the mounted disk image on the desktop. Double-click to open. Copy everything from the disk image to the same locations in the new account folder.
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Tips & Warnings
Create a new account with the same user name as the old, deleted account to facilitate transferring of folders into the new home folder.
You cannot recover an account with these steps if you deleted it with the "Delete Immediately" function. There are for-fee, third-party file recovery utilities that may be able to recover the account's home folder if there has been limited disk activity since deletion.
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