Share via

How to delete my windows account entirely?

Anonymous
2024-07-05T06:21:27+00:00

Hi! So, I’ve had a windows PC laptop for a little bit, 4 months ago as a gift from my mom for my 16th birthday and I was really happy about it until now. I’ve been getting increasingly worried about the (and not exaggerating) THOUSANDS of unsuccessful sign-ins from a bunch of different users in different places. I’ve never downloaded anything from anyone weird or been on any websites besides YouTube and Pinterest so I really have no idea how this many people happen to have my Microsoft email. I know it’s ’unsuccessful’ but it’s still extremely jarring to me that people are able to try to sign into my account continuously every second of the day without any issues whatsoever. This goes without mentioning the new Ai feature Microsoft has introduced without any warning that apparently takes screenshots of your screen every few seconds to improve their Ai. Considering how my email somehow already got leaked to apparently half of the world (China, Russia, Brazil, Ecuador, etc), I really don’t know why Microsoft thought this was a good idea to make anyway.

So, I want to either trade/recycle it because I’m extremely paranoid about getting hacked and I just don’t like how horrible the security is. I’ve never had this many unsuccessful sign ins history from randoms with any of my other devices before so this was pretty shocking and jarring for me to see. I just need to know how to do that or what’s the best route to take since this is a fairly new laptop and everything. Thanks!

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Accounts, profiles, and login

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

  1. Anonymous
    2024-07-05T07:59:09+00:00

    Hello MG_533, I'm Johrelle a fellow Windows/Microsoft user. I'm happy to assist you.

    If you'd prefer not to use a Microsoft account on your PC, you can remove it. This will require you to have an administrator account on the PC. Press Start and type "Accounts". Click on "Family & other users". Under "Other users", select the Microsoft account you want to remove. Click "Remove" and then confirm by clicking "Delete files from this account".

    I suggest changing your password to all accounts that share the same password as the hacked account. Make sure to use a strong password.

    Run an anti-virus scan with Windows Defender to remove unwanted applications that may steal your data. Also, run a malware scanner to check if any malware might key-log your computer or steal your data.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments

2 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2024-07-05T07:10:44+00:00

    Okay, good to know with the Ai thing and I’ve already turned it off! Still doesn’t make the other few months with it go away though.

    On the security, I have SMS, 2-factor, everything else you listed and a 26+ password. So, I don’t really know what else to do at this point. But I’m happy for the reply!

    So, what would be the best course of action to getting rid of my laptop?

    0 comments
  2. Rob Koch 25,875 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-07-05T06:59:19+00:00

    It's got nothing to do with the device, that's simply a fact of life for many people's accounts on any major service including Microsoft, Google, Apple, your bank and other financial institutions or any others that use online accounts.

    Let me guess, have you ever played any games using your Microsoft account? That's a very common reason that your account might become a target, since it's also a common way that the account username can be leaked, though simply using the associated email account that receives spam is a common reason as well.

    In truth, you're worried about the wrong thing, since unlike Microsoft, many online services simply don't display the unsuccessful attempts to login like the Activity log does. The fact that they're unsuccessful is actually a positive, since whatever security methods you've used have so far provided protection, though it's also a warning that you should be sure you're using at least 2-Step verification and if possible, also add the Microsoft Authenticator app to your smartphone to ensure your account is properly protected.

    And that AI Recall feature doesn't work on existing devices, only on the new ARM-based AI models that last I knew were soon to be released, so it doesn't affect you in any way and even if you bought one of those devices (why would you if you don't want AI?), it can be easily turned off.

    IOW, you're not learning what truly matters to your security. Spend some time asking questions before doing pointless things like many of those who've lost their Microsoft or other accounts to Russian, Chinese or North Korean nation state or other criminal gangs. I've never seen so many foolish people in my life as those coming here after losing their accounts, simply because they didn't do the things that Microsoft has been trying to get them to do for years, just as they did with me several years ago.

    Rob

    0 comments