- 1How to Add a New User in Linux
- 2Modify Existing User in Linux
- 3Delete a User in Linux — Step-by-Step for Beginners
- 4Create a User Group in Linux - Step-by-Step Tutorial
- 5Linux: Add User to Group
- 6How to Remove a User from a Group in Linux
- 7Delete a User Group in Linux - Beginner Friendly Tutorial
- 8Linux su Command Tutorial – Switch Users Easily
- 9Linux sudo Command - Execute as Another User
- 10Change a User's Password in Linux Using passwd
- 11Set Password Expiry in Linux using chage
- 12Lock a User Account in Linux
- 13How to Unlock a User Account in Linux
- 14Configure User Login Shell in Linux
- 15How to Configure User Environment Variables in Linux
- 16Edit .bashrc and .profile in Linux - User Startup Files Tutorial

- 1Linux Topics Index
- 2How to Create a File in Linux
- 3How to Rename a File in Linux
- 4How to Copy a File in Linux
- 5How to Move a File in Linux
- 6How to Delete a File in Linux
- 7How to Create a Directory in Linux
- 8How to Delete a Directory in Linux
- 9How to Copy Directories Recursively in Linux
- 10Delete Directories Recursively in Linux
- 11How to View Hidden Files in Linux
- 12How to Create a Hidden File in Linux
- 13How to Create a Hidden Directory in Linux
- 14How to Find Files in Linux Using find Command
- 15Find Files in Linux Using locate Command
- 16How to View File Contents Using cat in Linux
- 17How to View File Contents Using less in Linux
- 18View File Contents Using the more Command in Linux
- 19Compare Files Using diff Command in Linux
- 20Compare Files in Linux Using cmp Command
- 21Check File Type in Linux with file Command
- 22Create Symbolic Links with ln -s in Linux
- 23How to Archive Files Using tar Command in Linux
- 24Compress Files with gzip in Linux – Beginner Tutorial
- 25How to Compress Files Using bzip2 in Linux
- 26Compress Files in Linux Using zip Command
- 27Extract Compressed Files using tar in Linux
- 28Extract ZIP Files on Linux with unzip
- 29How to Extract .gz Files using gunzip in Linux

- 1How to Add a New User in Linux
- 2Modify Existing User in Linux
- 3Delete a User in Linux — Step-by-Step for Beginners
- 4Create a User Group in Linux - Step-by-Step Tutorial
- 5Linux: Add User to Group
- 6How to Remove a User from a Group in Linux
- 7Delete a User Group in Linux - Beginner Friendly Tutorial
- 8Linux su Command Tutorial – Switch Users Easily
- 9Linux sudo Command - Execute as Another User
- 10Change a User's Password in Linux Using passwd
- 11Set Password Expiry in Linux using chage
- 12Lock a User Account in Linux
- 13How to Unlock a User Account in Linux
- 14Configure User Login Shell in Linux
- 15How to Configure User Environment Variables in Linux
- 16Edit .bashrc and .profile in Linux - User Startup Files Tutorial
How to Modify an Existing User in Linux
Next Topic ⮕Delete a User in Linux — Step-by-Step for Beginners
How to Modify an Existing User in Linux
Hey there, welcome to ProgramGuru.org! 👋 Today, we’re going to learn how to modify an existing user in Linux using the usermod
command. If you’ve ever needed to change a username, move the user’s home directory, or update their group—this lesson is for you!
Let’s say we already have a user on our system, and now we want to change some of their details. We’ll walk through the most common modifications step by step.
🔹 1. Change a User’s Username
Let’s change the username from john
to johnny
:
sudo usermod -l johnny john
username 'john' is now changed to 'johnny'
Note: This doesn’t rename the home directory. It just changes the login name.
🔹 2. Rename the User’s Home Directory
If you’ve changed the username, it’s a good idea to rename the home directory too. Here’s how:
sudo usermod -d /home/johnny -m johnny
home directory is now /home/johnny and all files are moved
-d specifies the new home directory and -m moves the files.
🔹 3. Change a User’s Primary Group
Let’s assign the user to a different primary group, say developers
:
sudo usermod -g developers johnny
user 'johnny' is now part of the primary group 'developers'
🔹 4. Add the User to Additional Groups
Want to give the user access to other groups like sudo
or docker
?
sudo usermod -aG sudo,docker johnny
user 'johnny' has been added to groups: sudo, docker
Important: Always use the -a
(append) flag when adding to groups. Without it, the user will be removed from all other groups!
🔹 5. Lock or Unlock a User Account
If you need to temporarily disable a user without deleting them:
sudo usermod -L johnny # Lock
sudo usermod -U johnny # Unlock
account 'johnny' is now locked/unlocked
✅ Summary
Here's what we learned today:
- How to change usernames
- How to move and rename home directories
- How to update primary and secondary groups
- How to lock or unlock accounts
And that’s it! 🎉 You’ve now mastered the basics of modifying users in Linux. Keep practicing and you’ll feel like a pro in no time. Don’t forget to check out the next topic in our Linux course on user permissions.
Thanks for learning with ProgramGuru.org!