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I got a Windows 10 machine at work which was used by UserA who is not working any more with us.

To avoid having to go through setups, installations, etc, I want to rename the existing account to UserB so I don't lose any settings and can continue using them but as UserB.

How do I do that properly?

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2 Answers 2

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Ways to Change User Name of Account in Windows 10

There are 6 different ways to complete this as indicated in the Windows 10: Change User Name of Account in Windows 10 post but I will reference one of those that should work well for all versions of Windows 10 whether Home, Pro, Enterprise, etc. but see that post for other ways to do this.

To Change Name of a Local Account in netplwiz

  1. Press the Win+R keys to open the Run dialog, type netplwiz into Run, and click/tap on OK to open netplwiz.

  2. Check the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer box, select the local account you want to change the name of, and click/tap on the Properties button. (see screenshot below)

    enter image description here

  3. In the General tab, type the new User name (ex: "Brink3") you want for the local account, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

    enter image description here

  4. If you wanted to have Windows automatically sign in to an account at startup, then you will need to set this up again now.

  5. When finished, click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

    enter image description here

  6. If you are currently signed in to this local account, click/tap on Yes to sign out and apply your changes.

source


Further Resources

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  • Do these steps also change the C:\Users\UserA folder name? Jul 13, 2018 at 22:12
  • @cd491415 - If this is of any importance to you, let me know but otherwise if you could reply back with your results from your process, I'll update the answer accordingly. Jul 13, 2018 at 23:16
  • I decided to add new Admin account instead of changing existing one. So, I cannot confirm if your answer work but I am marking it as solution as it provides great information someone else might be able to confirm. Thank you very much
    – cd491415
    Jul 16, 2018 at 23:25
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Since I don't have enough reputation to comment on @pimp-juice-it 's answer, I'll just say it here. Renaming your user account this way is very risky. Once you sign out, your old password won't work, requiring you to use the Administrator's account to bypass the login window e.g. in such instances: https://www.howtogeek.com/222262/how-to-reset-your-forgotten-password-in-windows-10/ & https://www.ghacks.net/2019/01/07/how-to-reset-windows-10-account-passwords/

But you might be aware, after exploring the above links, that most of those examples are quite dated. Adding to the harsh truth that your Windows version is a much later edition i.e. 1809, 1903 ... these hacks might barely work. So I'm appealing to anyone who visits this page looking to change their username (most likely to remove spaces) that they should really take caution. If you must go ahead, just back up your files.

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