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Whenever I open my terminal on my Mac I get this:

login: illegal option -- e
usage: login [-pq] [-h hostname] [username]
    login -f [-lpq] [-h hostname] [username [prog [arg ...]]]

[Process completed]

All of the fixes I've tried aren't working. I've tried deleting my preferences for the terminal, changing my shell, and deleting my terminal profile.

How can I resolve this error and get a working shell?

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The problem is occurring because of an improper account name beginning with the dash ("-") character. So the solution is changing the name of the account via the steps given in this link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201548

When you open the terminal an automatic login command like login -pf [account-name] is executed. Let's say the account name is "-gi". In this case the command will be login -pf -gi and naturally, the terminal will show the error illegal option -- g. Therefore you should change the account name properly.

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  • Warning: changing an account's short name (its "Account name") will cause it to loose admin rights; this is not mentioned in the Apple support document. To change an admin account's name, I recommend 1) creating a new temp admin account; 2) removing admin rights from your regular account; 3) renaming the account (see Apple support doc); 4) re-granting admin rights under the account's new name; 5) testing the renamed account (including its admin rights); and optionally 6) deleting the temp admin account. – Gordon Davisson Dec 21 '19 at 18:59
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  • Start Terminal (and ignore the error/terminal output)
  • Type Cmd-, to open Preferences
  • In the General tab, switch the second option to a custom command and use /bin/bash -noprofile -norc as the command
  • Switch back to the Terminal window and type Cmd-T to open a new Terminal tab (which should work now).

Assuming it does

  • Run mv .bashrc{,.OLD}; mv .profile{,.OLD}
  • Switch Preferences back as they have been before
  • Debug whatever is in .bashrc.OLD and .profile.OLD (or just write new files from scratch)
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