Change Name of User Profile Folder in Windows 10  

I had a similar problem to JW, namely that the renaming of the user profile folder was denied because another program was using it. I had used the "Restart" option, whose login screen defaulted to the user, and that's when I switched to the Administrator account. To solve the problem, I did not have to resort to Safe Mode like JW; rather, I did a shutdown, and when starting up, the login screen now defaulted to the Administrator, so there was no user account touched. The rename worked just fine at that point.

But I've since encountered other issues. Every time I start File Explorer, it complains that C:\Users\oldprofilename\OneDrive\Desktop is unavailable. I installed Firefox, but no desktop shortcut was created. I installed LibreOffice, and although a desktop shortcut was created, it disappeared when I installed Filezilla, which also failed to create a desktop shortcut. Right clicking on the desktop and selecting New offers only the option to create a new folder, not a shortcut. And when I open the Environment Variables dialog, the top field is labeled "User variables for oldprofilename". I am concerned that there are all sorts of references to the old profile name still lingering in the system and other hidden issues.

This is Windows 11. Windows 10 gave the user more control over the naming of the user profile. I detest the way Windows 11 forces the use of the first five characters of the user's surname. The web search I performed for this issue led me to this forum, saying that the method works in both Windows 10 and 11.

Although there are tutorials for renaming the user's profile path in Windows, don't do it. Just don't. It's pretty much a guarantee you will have issues. Instead, create a new local user account and move your files. Using a local account gives you complete control and you can still use OneDrive, and all other Microsoft services. Windows will prompt for your Microsoft account when you first use OneDrive, Microsoft Store, etc. and will remember it. And, if you go with a local account, keep the name simple. No spaces, no special characters. Windows is okay with spaces and special characters, but not all other software is.

Step 15, yes. Step 14, wasn't sure it was necessary, given the "if" in the text "This way if something still references the old user profile folder name...". Because it's a new computer, I wasn't expecting anything to still be referencing the old user profile. Apparently my experience means that it's guaranteed for there to still be references to the old user profile. Wish there was a way to eradicate all the references to the old profile to make the symbolic link unnecessary.

After creating the link, File Explorer stopped complaining, and the "New" context menu once again offers Shortcut along with a bunch of other options.

after doing this it created a user folder with the name i chose and another folder (which has a little arrow icon in the bottom left).The folder with the icon is the exact copy of my user folder but the diffrence is that i can rename this folder.When i go to quick access in my file explorer the folder on which the images show to go is the arrow folder and not my user folder.If i delete this folder will there be a problem? I dont know if I explained it right hope you can undrestand
the spiderman is the one i can rename

If i rename it do i have to do all the 15 steps all over again?

I have come here because I need to change profile settings. I'm not sure information in this thread is where I should be. This is my first post here. I have a small home domain on which there are five computers and the server. The hardware of my very old server broke which caused me to renew and go to a Windows server 2012. I have domain users on the workstations for instance mine is Mike. As I understand it using a local administrator account I can add a new user to my computer ORAC. Using the information in this thread do I have to simply re-point the new user to the old profile? Surely it can't be that simple and I would be extremely grateful for any help this has taken a huge amount of time already.