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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May 24, 2017 can't delete old user profiles. Delete User Profile in Windows 10 Windows 10 User Accounts Tutorials. Cannot create user profiles in Windows 10 in User Accounts and Family Safety. After the anniversary update, i can't create a new profile for a local user, which means this user can't log on (User Profile Service is not loading).And no, I.
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.
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.
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
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.
Cannot Delete Local Profile Windows 7
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Active3 years, 6 months ago
I'm wondering how to safely remove a domain user profile from a computer that is a part of a domain. I don't want to delete the account from the domain itself, I just need to remove the profile from this computer, to do some cleanup.
I'm currently on a Vista Business computer, but we also have Win XP Pro and Win 7 Pro.
Dan
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ZlatkoZlatko
Cannot Delete User Profile Windows 7 10
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4 Answers
Faster:
The greyed out button possibly means that the registry hive has not been released by the operating system, as pointed out by @joeqwerty in the comments.
You could always delete the
C:Users[ACCOUNT] directory, but that leaves some registry entries behind that have to be manually deleted.
Deleting the Registy Keys
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.
hot2usehot2use
In case if user profile folder is/was deleted manually, you need to make changes to registry
1. Open 'regedit.exe'
2. Navigate to 'HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionProfileList'
Deleting User Profile Windows 10
3. Click the sub-key that corresponds with the profile you deleted and right click and delete it.
Volodymyr M.Volodymyr M.
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The safest method is as follows. (Written on Windows 7, but applicable to XP onwards)
This will remove any profile data on the local machine. Do not be tempted to just delete the profile directory as this will leave registry entries behind that will cause problems on Vista onwards.
I also recommend 'RemProf' from the excellent Ctrl-Alt-Del TS Util Pack. Ignore that the pack is terminal services centric, the utility works fine on desktop editions. Just note the different versions for XP/2003 and Vista/7/2008/R2
Dan
How To Delete User Profile Win 7Dan
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If the account is grayed out, then the account has Windows services or scheduled tasks tied to it. You will need to change the account on these services or task. Once done you will have to re-boot the PC and then it will allow you to delete the profile.
BTranBTran
protected by Community♦Mar 19 '16 at 17:13Can't Delete User Profile Windows 7
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