Change Name of User Profile Folder in Windows 10  

Pal654 said:

Brink,

I followed your steps, and all seemed well until I tried to open the picture folder. As I tried to open the individual pictures I'm getting this message "Windows Photo Viewer can't open this picture because you don't have the correct permissions to access the file location". In the folder the thumb nails are visible but can't be opened. I hope you can help!

Pal654

Hello Pak654, and welcome to Ten Forums.

Where is this picture folder located?

If you like try taking ownership of the picture folder using the context menu added from the tutorial below to see if that will allow you access afterwards.

Add Take Ownership to Context Menu in Windows 10

mkamp said:

Hello,

Unfortunately it looks like I’ve completely screwed up a bunch of stuff on my laptop in spite of double checking and accurately completing every step that you gave me. Is there any way to undo what this process does?

Hello mkamp, and welcome to Ten Forums,

You can undo the steps in the tutorial by doing them again, but renaming back to the original profile folder name.

boegvald said:

I did the renaming as per your very well made instructions. No problems. Until I tried to start Outlook. Then I get "Your Outlook data file cannot be configured. C;\users\....\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\<e-mail address>.ost"

Do you have any idea about how I can "revive" my OUtlook?

Best Regards
Bo

Hello Bo,

Other than changing the profile folder name back to the original name, you could set up Outlook again for the new location.

boegvald said:

Hello Brink

Actually I just found a solution: Making a symbolic link from the old folder path to the new one for the "C:\users\....\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook" folder! Now Outlook works perfectly again.

That's a good alternative.

Create Soft and Hard Symbolic Links in Windows

bullrun said:

These are terrible instructions!!! I followed every step perfectly and its created a HUGE mess. Everyone that lands on this thread is here for the SAME reason - they logged into their MS account when they set up their profile. That's why everyone here has the stupid 5 letter user folder that also doxes you by name. So you should have mentioned that MS KEEPS YOU LOGGED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WHILE THE COMPUTER IS ON AND CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET!!! It doesnt work if u just "log out". Changing the registry and folder name screws everything up when these are opened elsewhere. You have 20 pages over the last 3 years now of people complaining of the same issues that all have to do with this. I restored my profile by undoing your steps, also as you suggested, and now every program opens like it's just been installed. Your poorly written instructions have cost me a days now. I should have never trusted this.

Hello bullrun, and welcome to Ten Forums.

The profile folder is stored and used on the local computer, and referenced by programs installed on the computer. This profile folder is not related or connected with the Internet.

When you use step 1 to sign out of your Microsoft account on the local computer you want to rename its profile folder, it does not stay signed in on the local computer.

Renaming a user profile folder is not always 100% without issues. You can blame some of the programs for not using the proper variables in order to automatically use the new profile folder name.

Some programs have their own settings you may have to manually change to use the new profile folder name.

Situations like this is why you may have to undo the steps.

It's always highly recommended to create a system image before doing such actions to make it easier and fool proof to undo if it needed.