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Unable to Change Account Name in Windows 10

Anonymous
2024-05-28T16:19:33+00:00

Dear Microsoft Support Team,

I am experiencing an issue with changing my account name in Windows 10. I have followed the instructions provided on the official support site, including using the Control Panel, Settings app, and Netplwiz, but none of these methods have resolved the issue.

Here are the details of my situation:

  • Current Account Type: Microsoft account
  • Steps Taken: (List the steps you've followed based on the instructions)
    1. Using Control Panel:
      1. Press Win + R, type control, and press Enter to open the Control Panel.
      2. Click on "User Accounts."
      3. Click on "User Accounts" again.
      4. Click on "Change your account name."
      5. If prompted by User Account Control (UAC), click Yes.
      6. Enter the new account name and click on "Change Name."
    2. Using the Settings App:
      1. Press Win + I to open the Settings app.
      2. Go to "Accounts."
      3. Click on "Your info" on the left sidebar.
      4. Click on "Manage my Microsoft account" if you are using a Microsoft account. This will open a web page where you can change your account name.
      5. If you're using a local account, click on "Sign in with a local account instead," then follow the instructions to switch to a local account. Once switched, you can change the account name via the Control Panel method described above.
    3. Using Netplwiz:
      1. Press Win + R, type netplwiz, and press Enter.
      2. In the User Accounts window, select the account you want to change and click on "Properties."
      3. In the Properties window, change the "User name" field to the desired name.
      4. Click Apply, then OK.
  • Additional Information: To be more specific. I did a win10 refresh install without keeping my settings and files. In my previous install my account name was the same as my username/display name that I generally use everywhere online, AmphHitter. But since the fresh win10 install it changed to my full name, Leroy Thoma, and this is a problem since I saved my documents and several saved games under my display name, AmphHitter, and now some saved games are not able to load since they do not recognize the name and windows created the "User" and the windows documents/pictures/music/video's/etc. under my full name, Leroy Thoma. I can't change the name on the Microsoft account website since it requires me to put in my first and last name. It won't accept me to put in only my first name.

I would appreciate your assistance in resolving this issue as soon as possible. If there are any additional steps I need to take or if further information is required, please let me know.

Thank you for your support.

Best regards,

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows Hello, lock screen and sign-in

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  1. EmilyS726 225.4K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-05-28T21:35:37+00:00

    Indeed, OneDrive is not the problem here as it is not part of the path.

    However, your current user profile name is leroy, not AmphHitter. So I think that's the problem. In this case, you already did the instruction I gave you and created a local user whose username is AmphHitter, right? If so, you actually can continue with the instruction I gave you. Yes, once you linked the Mirosoft account to the AmphHitter user, you will see the display name that's your first and last names, but that will NOT change the user profile name, meaning the folder name is still AmphHitter in C:\users. Then any old files that were referecing the path of C:\users\AmphHitter will work again.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-05-28T21:28:14+00:00

    Hi Emily,

    Thank you for your fast response.

    I always disable and uninstall OneDrive as soon as possible when I do a fresh install from windows since I don't use OneDrive anymore, but I have copied the address from the 'My Documents' location for you; C:\Users\leroy\Documents if I copy the path without going to the 'User' folder this is copied as the address; Documents.

    I hope this is helpfull.

    Kind Regards,

    Leroy

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  3. EmilyS726 225.4K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-05-28T20:57:26+00:00

    Hi Leroy,

    I think you did the right thing by linking your Microsoft account back to your initial account.

    So you were hoping to change the display name, which actually cannot be changed, because it always syncs with your Microsoft account's display name.

    I read your initial question several times and I think your issue you have there might be caused by OneDrive. Can you go to your File Explorer, locate your documents folder for example, right click and choose "copy as path", then paste the path in a reply to me so I can see if I can tell what's going on there. Thanks!

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-05-28T20:30:39+00:00

    Hi Emily,

    Thank you for your response. I managed to go over all the steps you proposed except as soon as I sign into my Microsoft account on the new local log in after I released it from the original log in, it changes the name right back to my full name. :-(

    Therefore I did not follow your last 2 steps but am awaiting your response to see if you have any other ideas.

    Thanks a lot already for your assistance! It is very much appreciated.

    Kind regards,

    Leroy

    Ps. I did change the active Microsoft account log in back to the initial user log in since it has already some settings and themes which I find pleasant to work with but don't feel like having to put them all in multiple times if not needed. 😅

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  5. EmilyS726 225.4K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-05-28T16:55:47+00:00

    Hello, this is Emily.

    Are you referring to the user name in C:\users\your username folder? If that's the case, because this username is being referenced in a lot of places including registry, to maintain your user profile integrity, it is best that you create a new user instead, and then migrate your Microsoft account (if you have it linked) and data over.

    Here are the steps:

    1. Type netplwiz in the search on the taskbar and hit enter. When launched, click on "Add". On the next window, click on the bottom where it says to create an account without Microsoft email. This will allow you to define your own username. Make sure it doesn't contain space or special character. Set it up as a local user.
    2. When the above user is created, back to the main netplwiz page, double click on this new user, go to the Group Membership tab, make it administrator. Save the change.
    3. Go to Windows Settings > Accounts > Your Info. Click on "Sign in as a local user instead". Follow the steps to finish the rest. This will release the association of your Microsoft email to this Windows log in.
    4. Restart the computer. Sign into the new user you created in Step 1.
    5. Go to Windows Settings > Accounts > Your Info. Click on "Sign in with your Microsoft account". You can then use the same email address you released on Step 3. This will tie your Microsoft email address now to this new Windows log in.
    6. If you have data at the old username folder, go to C:\users\old username folder, find them and copy them into C:\users\new username folder.
    7. Type sysdm.cpl in the search on the taskbar and hit enter, go to Advanced tab, click on the "Settings" button at the User Profile section. Then delete the old user profile.
    8. Launch netplwiz again, delete the old user from there.
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