- Deleting Local Profiles Windows 10
- Delete Profile From Registry Windows 10 Command Prompt
- Remove Profile From Registry Windows 10
In this article, we will see how to delete a profile for a user account without deleting the account itself. This will allow you to reset all preferences and settings for all apps and Windows for a specific user.
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So, here in this article, we would present you few effective methods to delete user profiles on Windows 10/7/8. Method 1: Delete User Profile using Local Group Policy Editor In this method, we would employ the platform of Local Group Policy Editor where an user can bring about any change in the system by modifying the consoles and group policies. Now, If you want to permanently delete that left part of the software or to remove some other content from the registry, then you have to edit the registry settings. Steps to Delete a Registry File in Windows 10. Step 1: Go to the Windows search bar and type “regedit”.
Deleting Local Profiles Windows 10
Note: This article doesn't explain how to delete a user account. Instead, we will see how to reset a user account's data by deleting its profile. If you need to delete the user account itself, please refer to the following article:A user profile is a set of files and folders to store all the personal preferences, app settings, documents and other data. Every user account has an associated user profile. Usually, it is stored in the folder C:UsersUsername and includes a number of subfolders like Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc along with hidden folders like AppData which store the settings for various Windows features and installed apps. The main purpose of the user profile is to create a personalized environment with individual options tailored to the end user.
- Sep 21, 2017 You might also be interested in learning how to delete a user profile manually. This procedure involves File Explorer and the Registry editor app. Delete a user profile in Windows 10 manually. Open File Explorer. Go to the folder C:Users.
- When deleting user profiles, it is advisable to use the built-in GUI (graphical user interface) interface in Windows (Start System Advanced System Settings User Profile – Settings). This should delete all references in the registry, and the user’s profile folder (normally located in C: Users).
If your user profile has got corrupted or if you need to reset it to default, then you can delete the profile without removing the account. The next time you sign-in, a new profile will automatically be created for your user account. Let's see how it can be done.
Before proceeding, ensure that your user account has administrative privileges. Also, you cannot delete the profile for the current (active) account. Ensure you have signed in with another user account and not with the one whose profile data you wish to delete.
To delete a user profile in Windows 10, do the following.
- Press Win + R hotkeys on the keyboard. The Run dialog will appear on the screen. Type the following into the text box and press Enter:
- Advanced System Properties will open. There, click on the Settings button in the User Profiles section.
- In the User Profiles window, select the profile of the user account and click the Delete button.
- Confirm the request, and the profile of the user account will now be deleted.
The next time the user signs in, his or her profile will be re-created automatically, with all the default options and settings.
You might also be interested in learning how to delete a user profile manually. This procedure involves File Explorer and the Registry editor app.
Delete a user profile in Windows 10 manually
- Open File Explorer.
- Go to the folder C:Users and look for the user name which you want to delete. The appropriate folder contains everything related to the user profile, so you just need to delete this folder.
- Now, open Registry Editor.
- Go to the following Registry key.See how to go to a Registry key with one click.
- On the left, go through the subkeys. For each subkey, look for the value data of the ProfileImagePath string value. Once you find the one which points to the deleted user profile, remove it. See the following screenshot:
That's it! You just deleted the user profile for the account. It will be re-created using defaults the next time the user signs in.
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Active10 months ago
I have tried to:
- Remove a user from the Control Panel, but the C:Usersbob folderstill remains.
- Manually deleting it works sometimes if I delete all subfolders, butsome users folders do not allow me to delete:C:UsersbobAppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsLibrarieseven if a I take ownership..
- Deleting the the Account Unknown from System Settings following
instructions from this post , throws the errorDownload free movies to computer. Profile not deleted completely. Error - The directory is not empty.
EDIT: I probably should have mentioned that this is in a Windows 10 Home edition.
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salosalo
2 Answers
The steps:
- WIN-R to open the Run Window and type
services.msc
- Find the
Windows Search
service and stop it
You may notice that the 'Libraries' folder disappears from appdataroamingmicrosoftwindowsLibraries when you do this.
- Delete the User folder!
- Right click
Windows Search
in the services window again and START it.
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Following is a copy of the solution How to delete domain user profile from a computer? which should work equally well on a local computer with Windows 10.
- Open up 'Control Panel | System and Security | System'
- In the dialog click on 'Advanced system settings' (requires Admin rights)
- The 'System Properties' dialog will be displayed
- Make sure you are in the 'Advanced' register
- In the 'User Profiles' section click on 'Settings'
- The 'User Profiles' dialog is displayed
- Select the account. Hit Delete.
Faster:
- Start | Run
- sysdm.cpl
- switch to register 'Advanced'
- In the 'User Profiles' section click on 'Settings'
- The 'User Profiles' dialog is displayed
- Select the account. Hit Delete.
If you have a greyed out button it means that the registry hive has not been released by the operating system, as pointed out by @joeqwerty in the original post.
You could always just delete the
C:Users[ACCOUNT]
directory, but that leaves some registry entries behind that have to be manually deleted.Deleting any leftover Registry Keys
- Open Regedit with Administrator Permissions (Runas Administrator)
- Select the
HKEY_USERS
branch - Search for the Domain Account without the domain (e.g. login = DOMAINACCOUNT then search for ACCOUNT)
- Keep on searching until the status bar shows
ComputerHKEY_USERS[SID]SoftwareMicrosoftWindwosCurrentVersionExplorerShell Folders
- There should be a large list of your ACCOUNTs folders e.g.
C:UsersACCOUNTDesktop
You are in the right
HKEY_USERS[SID]SoftwareMicrosoftWindwosCurrentVersionExplorerShell Folders
branch if the ACCOUNT in 'Shell Folders' matches the ACCOUNT you just manually deleted form the C:Users[ACCOUNT]
directory. This branch [SID] can be exported and/or deleted to clean up the last of the user profile.Delete Profile From Registry Windows 10 Command Prompt
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