Change your Windows 10 Local Account Name

For the longest time, the username that appeared when I logged into my Windows 10 test machine was incorrect. This was due to my wanting to see what would happen when I logged into my Microsoft Account via Windows 10. The result was nothing good and the operating system simply used a shortened version of my email address as the username, which made no sense.

In any case, I ended up switching back to a local account but the shortened username still bothered me.

In this article I will show you how to rename and change your Windows 10 local account username. If this article interests you, you may also be interested in my article covering how to disable or bypass the Windows 10 lock screen.

 

Rename Your Windows 10 Username

Begin by clicking on the Start button (Windows logo at bottom left of your screen) and type “run“. Just start typing, the search box will automagically appear. Click on the Run app from the list of choices in the menu. Alternatively, you may press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard to open the Run app.

Type “control userpasswords2” into the Open field and press the Enter key or click OK (see image below).

 

 

That will open the “User Accounts” window which will allow you to select the username you want to change or rename. Do this by selecting the user and clicking the “Properties” button. Another window will appear which will allow you to rename the account. When satisfied, click the “Apply” button, then “OK” to close the open windows. Your username will change upon restart or as soon as you sign out.

Note that this will not rename your associated user folder located under “C:/Users/yourusername”. Do not attempt to manually rename that folder as doing so may corrupt the account and or files.

If you also want to rename your associated user folder, create a new user profile and copy all of your files and settings over. You can then delete the old user but not after verifying that everything has been successfully moved over to the new profile. Ensure that you have full working backup, just in case something goes wrong.

Conclusion

I welcome your thoughts, questions or suggestions on my article on how to rename or change your Windows 10 local account name.

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