Windows automatically creates a dedicated home/profile folder for every user account you create. By default, the name of the user profile folder is the same as the username. Since the home folder contains all the user-specific folders like pictures, documents, downloads, etc., Windows won’t allow you to easily change the folder name as you wish. If you ever want to, here’s follow the below steps to rename user profile folder in Windows 10.
Basically, there are four major things you need to do. That is, create a local administrator account, rename the user account, rename the user profile folder, and finally, map the renamed folder to the user account using the registry editor.
Just follow the below steps as is and the folder will be renamed in just a couple of minutes.
Caution: Before proceeding, create a system restore point. This helps you restore Windows if you mess up anything.
Steps to Rename User Profile Folder
Though the process of renaming the home folder is pretty simple, there are quite a few steps. So, to make things easier for you, I’ve divided the steps into four major sections.
1.1 Create a New Local Administrator Account
While you are logged into your user account, you cannot rename your own user profile folder. This is true even if you are the administrator. As such, we need to create another local administrator account. Once created, we will use that account to make all the necessary changes. Of course, you can enable hidden administrator account too but the below method is recommended.
Note: If you already have another local user account with administrator privileges then you can skip this section.
- Open the settings app and go to “Accounts -> Family & other users” page. On the right panel, click on the “Add someone else to this PC” button.
- If your PC has an active internet connection, Windows 10 will ask you to log into Microsoft account. Since we want to create a local account, click on the “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information” link.
- In the next screen, click on the “Add a user without Microsoft account” link.
- Now, enter a new username and password. Setup the security questions and click on the “Next” button.
- The new user account will be created as a standard user. So, click on the user account in the settings app and then click on the “Change account type” button.
- Select “Administrator” from the dropdown menu. Click “Ok” to save changes.
- This is how it should look like in the settings app after changing the account type.
- Reboot Windows.
1.2 Rename Old User Account
The user account name and the home folder should have the same name. So, if you want to rename the home folder, you need to change the user account name too.
- Log into the new user account.
- In the new user account, press Win + R, type
lusrmgr.mscand click on the “Ok” button.
- The above action will open the Local Users and Group tool. Here, go to the “Users” folder, find your user account, right-click on it and select “Rename“.
- Type the new user name you’d like to give the user account. In my case, I’m changing “WindowsLoop” to “WindowsLoopCOM”.
1.3 Rename Windows Home Folder
- Now, open file explorer and go to
C:\Users. RIght-click on your user profile folder and select “Rename“.
- Type in the same name you used in step 11. In my case, the new name is “WindowsLoopCOM”.
1.4 Map the Renamed Folder via Registry Editor
- Next, press Win + R, type
regeditand click on the “Ok” button. This action will open the registry editor.
- In the registry editor, copy the below path, paste it in the address bar and press Enter. On the left panel, you will see folders with long SID Strings.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
- Every user account in your system has its own folder with a unique SID string. So, click on each SID string folder, take and look at “ProfileImagePath” value in the right panel and see if it corresponds to your profile folder.
- Once you found the target folder, double-click on the “ProfileImagePath” value. In the Edit Value window, enter the new profile folder name and click on the “Ok” button.
- This is how it should look like in the registry editor after you change the ProfileImagePath value.
- Close the registry editor.
- Reboot Windows.
- Log into your regular user account and it should be functioning without any problems.
Just to test if everything is OK, I’ve downloaded a single file from the internet. Since everything worked great, the downloaded file is saved in the Downloads folder of the renamed home folder.
Once everything is working fine, you can delete Windows user account you created earlier.
That is all. It is that simple to rename user profile folder in Windows.
If you like this article, do check how to get full user account details in Windows and how to login automatically in Windows 10.
Thanks a lot, worked perfectly !
Point 1.2 didn’t work for me this time (it did a few months back). Now there are no local users listed and in the main field there is a message saying
“This snapin may not be used with this edition of Windows 10. To manage user accounts for this computer, use the User Accounts tool in Control Panel.”
When you go there though, it only allows you to change account type or add / remove an account. Option to rename is not available.
I’ve tried attending a GoToMeeting as usual, and the launcher is trying and failing to get access to the old folder, even though that folder doesn’t exist any more: “Unable to create directory C:\Users\old_name\AppData\Local\GoToMeeting\xxxxx”.
Any suggestions?
What edition of Windows are you using? I just tried the method on my end and it worked just fine. I think the lusrmgr.msc snap-in is not available in Home edition.
Same problem here. I have Windows 10 Home Edition.
Is there an alternative to “lusrmgr.msc” for Home users?
Signed,
A Desperate User
Hi there,
Use the “netplwiz” Run command. Select your user account, click “Properties” and enter the new user name in the “user name” field.
When I perform step 1.3 “Rename Windows Home Folder,” I get an error message: “The action can’t be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program.”
Sign out of your account on which you’re trying to change name. Or simply open task manger and sign off from there.. It will work.
Task manager clearly shows that no other user is logged in. I even restarted the PC just to be sure. But it still is convinced the folder is open somewhere
Thank you SO MUCH!! you saved me!
FABULOUS STEP-BY-STEP ADVICE, CAN’T GO WRONG. Thank you!
THANK U SO MUCH
You should mention updating any Enivronment Variables under system properties, advanced, that are now wrong like for OneDrive.
Thanks for this article.
–Andy
I use “netplwiz” instead of “lusrmgr.msc” because I had the same problem people commented here, you answered someone recommend use “netplwiz” and that was my salvation. Thank u very much.
I’m glad it worked out in the end. Have a nice day.
So – even though I had to use the “netplwiz” amended direction from the comments above, everything else worked great . . . right up until the part where I logged back in to my main user account. My desktop there was completely blank, and a warning came up that said something about not being able to find the C:/Users/”old folder name” . . . on ONEDRIVE(!)
Apparently the new win10 machines are so interconnected with Onedrive that changing the user folder name on the hard drive breaks the connection it has with another one it created (inaccessible by the new admin account I was using) and it loses connection with the account. After having a minor heart attack at seeing everything completely GONE, I went back, retraced my steps and re-renamed my user folder back to the old name, and thankfully everything came back to normal.
– Except of course that my user folder is still named something other than what I want it to be . . .