I have 4 folders under my 'Users' folder. They are Default, Defaultuser(), HP, and Public. These folders have existed ever since I bought the computer. So:
(1) How do I find which one is associated with my account? (2) How do I get rid of the other users?
You must NOT 'get rid of'' Default or Public. These folders are built in to windows and are necessary for it to function. Default is the template used to create any new user accounts you may add and Public is used for documents and files that can be accessed by all users, in particular all user's user pictures are stored there.
Thanks much Bree. Right-clicking 'Documents' referred me to C:\Users\HP. Out of curiosity, I right-clicked on This PC\Pictures-Properties, and noticed that path is C:\Users\defaultuser(). Does that mean anything?
The Pictures folder should also by default be in you user folder, in your case C:\Users\HP. Have you in the past (intentionally or by accident) tried to move it?
Move Location of Pictures Folder in Windows 10You can change where files in this Pictures folder are stored to another place on the hard drive, another drive, or another computer on the network.
This tutorial will show you how to move the default location of your Pictures folder to where you want in Windows 10.
If everything is working as it should I'd leave it where it is for now. We don't know how it ended up like this and we wouldn't want to break anything. You'd also better check the location of your other folders in This PC, Desktop. Downloads. etc. One thing I can say for certain, you must not try to delete that defaultuser() folder!
One thing you could safely try is to create a new local user account. Sign in as this new user and see if that account has all its folders in the default place, in its own folder in C:\Users.
Add Local Account or Microsoft Account in Windows 10
Thanks Bree. I get an error message when I try your instructions. I'll take your advice and leave it alone for now. BTW I have both C:\users\default and C:\users\usersdefault(). Do I need to keep both?
Which instructions? The suggestion to create a new local user account? Or did you try to move Pictures?
C:\Users\Default is a necessary part of any Windows system and should be left there untouched. It is the template for creating new user accounts.
The usersdefault() folder is one that has somehow been created and contains your Pictures folder, so that too must remain for now.
I tried to move the pictures. Luckily it wouldn't let me. So I'm left with 4 folders under 'Users'.
C:\users\HP {I suppose that's me}
C:\users\public {don't touch}
C:\users\default\ {don't touch}
C:\users\HP\userdefault() {don't touch}
My original goal was to clean up my user files. Not able to fix that but I could have done a lot of damage trying. Thanks for the save.
Closing out.
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