Should I be a Standard or Admin user?
by JAMES SEYMOUR
Q When I get my M2 Mac, should I continue using it as its Admin user, or create a separate Standard account?
A You can work fully in either type of account. Differences between them are in privileges; users with Admin accounts can do almost everything, although for some actions like changing the main Library folder, and upgrading macOS, they’re prompted to enter their password. They can also create and remove other user accounts. Standard users can still install apps, but for actions requiring higher privileges they need to enter an Admin user’s name and password. Some find this protected environment more comfortable, as it can prevent errors. Whether it’s any more secure depends on your behaviour, and how often you have to enter an Admin user’s details. If that’s frequent, it could become automatic, and the Standard user’s protections may vanish. If you rely on being a Standard user to protect from phishing or malware, then you could drop your guard, and succumb to an attack for your Admin user’s name and password after all.