Does each Computer in a workgroup take care of its own user account and security settings?

Users

View the list of users.

Click the user picture to change it. See Change a user’s login picture.

Click the Info button

Groups

View the list of groups.

Click the Info button

Add account

Create a new user or group.

Click the New Account pop-up menu (you may be asked to enter your password), then choose a type of account.

• Administrator: An administrator can add and manage other users, install apps, and change settings. The new user you create when you first set up your Mac is an administrator. Your Mac can have multiple administrators. You can create new ones, and convert standard users to administrators. Don’t set up automatic login for an administrator. If you do, someone could simply restart your Mac and gain access with administrator privileges. To keep your Mac secure, don’t share administrator names and passwords.

• Standard: Standard users are set up by an administrator. Standard users can install apps and change their own settings, but can’t add other users or change other users’ settings.

• Sharing Only: Sharing-only users can access shared files remotely, but can’t log in to the computer or change settings. To give the user permission to access your shared files or screen, you may need to change options in File Sharing, Screen Sharing, or Remote Management settings. See Set up file sharing and Share the screen of another Mac.

• Group: Groups allow multiple users to have the same access privileges. You control a group’s access to your shared folders by setting access permissions in the File Sharing options in Sharing settings.

See Add a user or group.

Automatically log in as

Choose whether to have a specific user logged in automatically.

• Use automatic login: Choose a user, enter the password, then follow the onscreen instructions. Automatic login takes effect the next time you restart the Mac, and whenever the Mac starts up, that user is automatically logged in.

• Turn off automatic login: Choose Off. At startup the Mac opens a login window showing all the users.

Note: Automatic login allows anyone to access your Mac simply by restarting it. If automatic login is enabled, make sure your Mac doesn’t automatically log in an administrator. When FileVault is turned on, automatic login is disabled.

Allow network users to log in at login window

Specify which network users can log in to your Mac. (This option only appears if your Mac is joined to a network account server.) See Allow network users to log in to your Mac.

Network account server

Join a network account server, or manage network account server settings.) See Join your Mac to a network account server.