Symptom
When logged in as an Admin user, you cannot access the Home directory or files of a former, deleted user in the Finder.
For more information on the Home directory, see technical document 106167, "Mac OS X: Using Your Home Directory".
Solution
When deleting a user with the Users preference pane of System Preferences, a dialog appears to confirm whether you really wish to delete the user. This dialog also asks if the contents of the deleted user's Home directory should be reassigned to a current user or to System Administrator, which is the default choice (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Deleting a user
The term "System Administrator" actually refers to the "root" user, not to "Admin" users. The terms are similar, but they should not be confused. If System Administrator is selected, then the Home directory of the Deleted user will not be available to any other user, not even to an Admin user. To avoid this situation, choose a user other than System Administrator. For more information, see technical documents:
106256: "Mac OS X: Deleting a Former User's Home Directory (Folder)"
31375: "Mac OS: Deleting Same Name User's Folder in Mac OS 9.1 Affects Mac OS X 10.0"
106290: "Mac OS X: About the root User and How to Enable It"
When logged in as an Admin user, you cannot access the Home directory or files of a former, deleted user in the Finder.
For more information on the Home directory, see technical document 106167, "Mac OS X: Using Your Home Directory".
Solution
When deleting a user with the Users preference pane of System Preferences, a dialog appears to confirm whether you really wish to delete the user. This dialog also asks if the contents of the deleted user's Home directory should be reassigned to a current user or to System Administrator, which is the default choice (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Deleting a user
The term "System Administrator" actually refers to the "root" user, not to "Admin" users. The terms are similar, but they should not be confused. If System Administrator is selected, then the Home directory of the Deleted user will not be available to any other user, not even to an Admin user. To avoid this situation, choose a user other than System Administrator. For more information, see technical documents:
106256: "Mac OS X: Deleting a Former User's Home Directory (Folder)"
31375: "Mac OS: Deleting Same Name User's Folder in Mac OS 9.1 Affects Mac OS X 10.0"
106290: "Mac OS X: About the root User and How to Enable It"