I accidentally deleted my user account and cannot log on to my laptop

1 What makes you think you deleted your user account? What exactly did you do? What do you see at the login screen now?
2 What user accounts did you previously have on the computer? Were any of them MSAccount-linked user accounts [where your username is shown as an email address]?
3 Are you able to log in to any other account at the moment or are you completely locked out of the computer?

There is no "secret Microsoft password".

Denis

Try3 said it all. I use an MS account that I sync across three systems with no other accounts involved in my network. Well other then my wife the Queen Bee. Do you have an option on the login screen on the bottom left to select another account?

Under C:\Users can you see the folder for the account in question? And if so, does it contain what you expect?

dalchina said:

Under C:\Users can you see the folder for the account in question? And if so, does it contain what you expect?

Your still at 1903?? Update! 21H1 or 21H2. Also the OP Would need access to a CMD to do this at login but I may be wrong...

@Lance1 - you haven't read my specs properly. See second PC. For me, 1903 -> 20H2/20H1 was a functional downgrade in 3 respects. 1903 was the last build when Windows search had all its features.

Also the OP Would need access to a CMD to do this at login.

Or boot from a live boot disk, or from a Win 10 install disk .... not that hard, really.

dalchina said:

@Lance1 - you haven't read my specs properly. See second PC. For me, 1903 -> 20H2/20H1 was a functional downgrade in 3 respects. 1903 was the last build when Windows search had all its features.


Or boot from a live boot disk, or from a Win 10 install disk .... not that hard, really.

Well I'm sorry. Didn't mean to pick. Anyway to the OP. We assume the OP has this available. "Not that hard, really" For most but hard for some.

This can probably all be sorted out but some of your comments confuse me.

gm3suz said:

I had two accounts a local account and a user account.
I thought I was deleting the local account which had administrative privileges.

They are all "user accounts".
There are local user accounts and there are MSAccount-linked user accounts.
There are Standard user accounts and there are Admin user accounts.

1 I think you are saying that you had two accounts

- a local Admin user account
- an MSAccount-linked standard user account

and you deleted the local Admin user account.
Have I got that right?

gm3suz said:

... all I see when I power up the laptop is a picture of a big rock with a hole in it at the seaside somewhere. … I am absolutely stuck at the boot up screen.

2 Whilst it is not a solution to the main problem, if I have understood you correctly you could log in to the user account that did not get deleted [which I think is an MSAccount-linked standard user account].
But you have not mentioned being able to do so and I am concerned that I have not followed you correctly.

gm3suz said:

I have tried to boot up using Windows 10 on a usb memory stick but it keeps asking for drivers that are not on the memory stick.

3 This is serious. Solving the problem will probably require booting from a Windows 10 installation disk.
- Please would you confirm that you have been booting from a Windows 10 installation disk not something else.
- Please would you take a photo of the dialog[s] demanding drivers. How to Upload and Post Screenshots and Files - TenForumsTutorials

gm3suz said:

I have tried changing the bios to boot into troubleshooting/repair mode but it cannot find a fault.

4 The only relevant Bios adjustment would seem to be to allow booting from the USB. Is that what you meant?

---

Item 3 is the key issue because, if I have understood the rest correctly, I expect to suggest that you use a procedure that involves booting from a Windows 10 installation disk -
Fix UAC prompt has greyed out or missing Yes button - TenForumsTutorials
The name of the tutorial just comes from the fact that this is the symptom most people first report seeing.

Denis

Hello gm3suz,

You could use option 5 in the tutorial below to enable the built-in Administrator account at boot using a Windows 10 installation USB. Afterwards, you could sign in to this "Administrator" account to create a new account for yourself.

Enable or Disable Elevated Administrator account in Windows 10