Windows 10 lets you easily create or delete user accounts with ease. Generally, it is not only advised but a best practice to create a user account for every user using your system. For instance, if you are sharing your computer with your brother or sister, it is better to create their own user account so that they can customize the desktop and applications to meet their needs. That being said, if you have unused user accounts, it is better to delete them to minimize any unauthorized use. Follow the below steps to delete user account in Windows 10.
Deleting a user account will delete all the files in their home folders like documents, pictures, videos, etc. So, back up those files before deleting the account.
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Delete User Account in Windows 10
There are multiple ways to delete a user account in Windows 10. Those ways include using the settings app, control panel, advanced user accounts tool, command prompt, and PowerShell. I will show all these methods. Use the one you are comfortable.
Method #1 – Use Settings App to Delete User Account
The settings app provides the easiest way to delete a user account in Windows 10.
1. Press Win + I to open the settings app. You can also search for it in the start menu. Once the settings app has been opened, click on the “Accounts” option.
2. In the Accounts page, go to the “Family & other users” tab appearing on the left panel. On the right panel, find the user account you want to delete under the “Other users” section and click on it.
3. Next, click on the “Remove” button under the user account name.
4. Windows will now show a confirmation window. Click on the “Delete account and data” button.
As soon as you click on the delete button, Windows will delete all the files in that user’s home folders and delete the user account. The user account will disappear from the settings page.
Method #2 – Use Good Old Control Panel to Delete Windows 10 User Account
Though Windows 10 is slowly moving towards the settings app, you can still remove a user account from the control panel. The good thing about this method is that you are offered to keep the user-specific files while deleting the user account.
1. Search for the control panel in the start menu and open it. In the control panel, make sure that the “View by” is set to “Large Icons”. Next, find the “User Accounts” option and click on it.
2. You’ll be taken to your account management page. Since we want to delete another user, click on the “Manage another account” link.
3. In this screen, select the user account you want to delete. In my case, I want to delete a user account named “WindowsLoop”.
4. Now, click on the “Delete the account” link.
5. When prompted, to keep the files, click on the “Keep Files” button. To delete the files, click on the “Delete Files” button. If you chose to keep the files, you will see a new folder with all the backed up files on your desktop.
6. To confirm the deletion, click on the “Delete Account” button.
That is it. You are done deleting a user account in Windows 10. The deleted user account will be disappeared from the control panel.
Method #3 – Netplwiz to Remove User Account
Windows has an advanced user control tool that makes it quite easy to create and remove user accounts a breeze. This tool is mainly aimed at power users and administrators. As such, the advanced user accounts tool is buried deep within Windows.
1. To open the advanced user accounts tool, press Win + R, type netplwiz in the blank field and press the Enter button.
2. In this window, select the user account from the list under “Users for this computer” and click on the “Remove” button.
3. You will see a confirmation window something like the below one. Click on the “Yes” button to continue.
As soon as you click on the button, the user account will be removed and deleted. Of course, all the user-specific files will be deleted too.
Method #4 – Command to Delete User Account
Just as you can use the command prompt to create a user account, you can also delete a user account from the command prompt.
1. You need admin privileges to delete a user account with commands. So, search for the command prompt in the start menu, right-click on it and select the “Run as administrator” option.
2. Before you can delete a user account, you need to know the actual user name. So, execute the below command and it will show a list of all the user accounts in your system. Find the user account you want to delete and note down the name. We are going to need that username in the next command.
net users
3. Now, execute the below command while replacing “UserName” with the actual username. As soon as you press the Enter button, the user account will be removed along with any user files of that user account.
net user "UserName" /delete
4. To verify, use the first command and see if the user is still in the list.
Method #5 – PowerShell Command to Remove User Account
You can do almost everything and more with PowerShell. Deleting a user account is nothing special. So, if you are PowerShell guy, follow the below steps.
1. Search for “PowerShell” in the start menu, right-click on it and select the “Run as administrator” option.
2. Just like with the command prompt, you need to know the exact username to delete the account. So, use the below command. It will list all the user accounts in your system. Note down the username you want to delete.
Get-LocalUser
3. Now, execute the below command while replacing “UserName” with the actual user name. You will not see any output, but the user account is deleted in the background.
Remove-LocalUser -Name "UserName"
4. To verify the deletion, use the first command.
That is it. It is that simple to delete a user account in Windows 10. If you face any problems or have questions, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.
If you like this article, do check out how to view full user account details in Windows 10 and how to add or remove email accounts in Windows 10.