How to Edit/Modify Username in Windows 10

Question

How to Edit/Modify Username in Windows 10

Anonymous

Hi!

I had to do a fresh reinstall of Windows 10 Pro and whilst doing so I misspelt my User Name. I would like to correct this error but have to date - not found a way to do this. I would be most grateful for a solution to my problem.

*** Original title: Changing a User Name from one with a spelling error***

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Answer 1

Hi,

Thank you for posting on Microsoft Community Forums.

When you create a user account, a folder also gets created and associated with the user account. You can change/edit the user account name, however the folder name will not change. The user folder name can be changed manually, however it could result in loss of data associated with the corresponding account. I would suggest to create a new user account and remove the existing one. To change the username, you must be logged into another administrator account. Given below are the steps to enable the built in administrator account.

Click on Start button (Windows logo) and type Cmd.
Right click on Cmd and select Run as administrator.
On command prompt, type Net User Administrator /Active:yes and hit the Enter key which will enable the built in administrator account.
Sign out of your account after the above command is executed successfully.

Sign into the built in administrator account and follow the steps below to rename the account.

Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key and the R key together.

Type NETPLWIZ and hit the Enter key which will list all the user accounts active on the computer.

Select your user account name and click on Properties.

Change the User name in its corresponding text box.

Click Apply and Ok.

Sign out of your account and see if the username has changed on the sign in screen.

Once the user account name is changed, you can login to your original account and disable the built in admin account by running the following command in command prompt.

Net User Administrator /Active:No

As mentioned earlier, it is recommended to create a new user account instead of renaming the user account. Please refer to the article below, if you would like to create a new user account.

Create a local user or administrator account in Windows 10

Hope it helps.

Feel free to contact back in case you have any questions or need any further assistance with this issue.

Regards,

Peer Samie

Microsoft Community-Moderator

Answer 2

Hi Peer! Well you must be a mind reader! I carried out the steps you suggested in both replies - just finishing earlier this evening. Unfortunely, something has went wrong and when I switch on my machine and the log in screen appears the only user name there is the Administrator log in. When I try to log in to my Administrator Account it tells me that it disabled and consult with the system administrator. I have tried using a IOS Disk to try and boot into the Repair Option but the system is not reacting to the disk in the drive. I have tried setting the Boot Sequence to the disk drive but to no avail. I can’t even get the system to go into Safe Mode. I can’t do anything with this machine! Can you help?

Answer 3

Anonymous

Hi Patrick,

We haven't heard back from you. Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

Regards,

Peer Samie

Microsoft Community-Moderator

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Answer 4

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for the reply.

You can create a new local Administrator account, transfer your personal files to the new account and delete the old account. Once the old account is deleted, you can add your Microsoft account to this new username.

To create a new local administrator account, please refer instructions given in the link: Create a local user or administrator account in Windows 10.

Once the new user account is created, you can copy your personal data from the old account to new one.

Log into the newly created user account.
Go to: C:\Users\Old_Username folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and Old_Username is the name of the profile you want to copy files from.
Copy the folders one by one and paste them to C:\Users\New_Username folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and New_Username is the name of the newly created profile.

Once the data transfer is complete, you can delete the old account by following the steps given below.

Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key and the R key together.
Type NETPLWIZ and hit the Enter key which will list all the user accounts active on the computer.
Select the old user account name and click on Remove.
Click Yes to confirm the action.
Click Ok and close the user accounts Window.

To set up your existing Microsoft account with the new user profile, please follow the steps given below.

Go to Settings->Accounts->your info->Sign in with a Microsoft account instead.

Follow the onscreen instructions to set up your Microsoft account with Windows sign in.

Hope the information is helpful.

Please feel free to contact back, if you have any questions or need any further assistance with this issue.

Regards,

Peer Samie

Microsoft Community-Moderator

Answer 5

Anonymous

Hi Peer! Thank you for your reply. Just one question at this time - if I create a new local username, will i be able to transfer my Microsoft Account to this new username?

Many thanks

Patrick Kieran Ward.

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How to Edit/Modify Username in Windows 10

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