Delete User Account in Windows 10  

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    Delete User Account in Windows 10

    Delete User Account in Windows 10

    How to Delete a User Account in Windows 10
    Published by Category: User Accounts
    29 Jul 2022
    Designer Media Ltd

    How to Delete a User Account in Windows 10


    You need a user account to use Windows, and if you share a single PC with other people, each person should have their own account. Each person can customize their account with their own settings and preferences, like a desktop background or screen saver. User accounts also help control which files and apps each person can use and what changes they can make to the PC.

    If you have a user account on your PC that is not being used, you can permanently remove it by deleting it.

    This tutorial will show you different ways on how to delete a user account to remove it from your Windows 10 PC.

    You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to delete a user account.

    You will not be able to delete a user account that is currently signed in. You will need to sign out the user first.


    Be sure to always have at least one enabled administrator account on the PC to avoid not being able to perform actions that require administrator rights.


    For a Windows 11 version of this tutorial, see:

    Delete User Account in Windows 11



    Contents







    OPTION ONE

    How to Remove a User Account in Settings


    1 Open Settings, and click/tap on the Accounts icon.

    2 Click/tap on Family & other users on the left side, click/tap on an account (ex: "Brink2") you want to delete on the right side, and click/tap on Remove. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_settings-1.jpg

    3 Click/tap on Delete account and data to confirm. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_settings-2.jpg

    4 When finished, you can close Settings if you like.






    OPTION TWO

    How to Delete a User Account in Control Panel


    1 Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the User Accounts icon.

    2 Click/tap on the Manage another account link. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_control_panel-1.png

    3 If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes.

    4 Click/tap on a user (ex: Example) you want to delete. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_control_panel-2.png

    5 Click/tap on the Delete the account link. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_control_panel-3.png

    6 Click/tap on Delete Files or Keep Files for what you want to do with the user account's personal files. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_control_panel-3b.png

    7 Click/tap on Delete Account to confirm. (see screenshots below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_control_panel-4a.png
    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_control_panel-4b.png

    8 When finished, you can close the Control Panel if you like.






    OPTION THREE

    How to Delete a User Account in Local Users and Groups


    1 Open Local Users and Groups, and click/tap on the Users folder in the left pane to open it. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_lusrmgr-1.png

    2 Click/tap on a user (ex: Example) you want to delete in the middle pane to select it, click/tap on More Actions under the same user's name (ex: Example) in the right "Actions" pane, and click/tap on Delete. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_lusrmgr-2.png

    3 Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_lusrmgr-3.png

    4 When finished, you can close the Local Users and Groups if you like.






    OPTION FOUR

    How to Remove a User Account in Netplwiz


    1 Type netplwiz in the search box (Win+S) in your Start menu or on your taskbar, and press Enter.

    2 If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes.

    3 Check the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer box. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_netplwiz-1.png

    4 Click/tap on a user (ex: Example) you want to delete, and click/tap on Remove. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_netplwiz-2.png

    5 Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_netplwiz-3.png

    6 If you set Windows to automatically sign in to a user account at startup, then you will need to set this again when finished.

    7 When finished, you can close Netplwiz if you like.






    OPTION FIVE

    How to Delete a User Account in Command Prompt


    1 Open an elevated command prompt.

    2 Copy and paste the net users command into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter to see a list of all user account names on the PC. Make note of the account name you want to delete. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_command-1.png

    3 Do step 4 or step 5 below depending on if the user is joined to a domain or not.


    4 To Delete a User Account

    A) Type the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)

    net user "UserName" /delete

    Substitute UserName in the command above with the actual user name from step 2 you want to delete.

    For example: net user "Example" /delete

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-remove_account_command-2.png


    5 To Delete a Domain User Account

    A) Type the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 6 below.

    net user "UserName" /delete /domain

    Substitute UserName in the command above with the actual domain user name from step 2 you want to delete.

    For example: net user "Example" /delete /domain


    6 When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.






    OPTION SIX

    How to Delete a User Account in PowerShell


    For more Remove-LocalUser command options and details, see: Add-Remove-LocalUser - Microsoft Docs


    1 Open an elevated PowerShell.

    2 Copy and paste the Get-LocalUser command into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter to see a list of all user account names on the PC. Make note of the account name you want to delete. (see screenshot below)

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-get_local_user_powershell.png

    3 Type the command below into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

    Remove-LocalUser -Name "UserName"

    Substitute UserName in the command above with the actual user name from step 2 you want to delete.

    For example: Remove-LocalUser -Name "Brink2"


    4 When finished, you can close the elevated PowerShell if you like.

    Delete User Account in Windows 10-delete_user_account_in_powershell.png


    That's it,
    Shawn






  1. Posts : 171
    Win 10-
       #1

    All this information is ok!

    But doesn't work if the computer, when booted, goes right to the account you are try to delete!

    Tully
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 68,672
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Hello Tully, :)

    Are you able to sign out and switch users (if available) to delete the account afterwards?
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 1,481
    W10 22H2 19045.3031
       #3

    Is it possible to delete or change the name of the Administrators account
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 68,672
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #4

    meebers said:
    Is it possible to delete or change the name of the Administrators account
    Hello meebers, :)

    Just to clarify, do you mean the built-in "Administrator", or just the other normal administrator accounts?

    If you have another administrator account to sign in to, then you can delete another administrator account.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 1,481
    W10 22H2 19045.3031
       #5

    Brink said:
    Hello meebers, :)

    Just to clarify, do you mean the built-in "Administrator", or just the other normal administrator accounts?

    If you have another administrator account to sign in to, then you can delete another administrator account.
    I am assuming the the administrator account that was created during the first time W10 was set up. (the one that appears on my desk top when signing in and is the default email address). Going to make an image and try to configure it. Tx...
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 68,672
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #6

    meebers,

    Yeah, that's just a dummy account provided by the OEM to setup Windows with. You could create a new account for yourself, sign out, sign in to the new account, then delete the old one. :)

    https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5...dows-10-a.html
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 1,481
    W10 22H2 19045.3031
       #7

    Brink said:
    meebers,

    Yeah, that's just a dummy account provided by the OEM to setup Windows with. You could create a new account for yourself, sign out, sign in to the new account, then delete the old one. :)



    https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5...dows-10-a.html
    Tx for the info and link!
      My Computers


  8. Posts : 68,672
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Anytime. :)
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 2,297
    Windows 10 Pro (64 bit)
       #9

    Has any of this changed for Creators Update? I may need to delete a user account on a PC with the update. Unfortunately I am not in front of a PC running V1703 to check but I don't think the option to remove was in the family and other users settings, only to block. It's my wife's account (part of our family group) which may have some slight corruption so we may just delete her user account and then re-create it. Just trying to think of the easiest and quickest way to do this without upsetting windows!


    I've never dabbled in this before but am I better off deleting user profile in order to achieve my goal? My wife's store app has issues and I think maybe easiest thing is start again for her seeing as there is nothing critical on her current user account.

    cheers,
    Wayne
    Last edited by Scottyboy99; 27 Apr 2017 at 06:24.
      My Computer


 

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