Geek Rewind

How to Rename User Home Folder in Windows 11

Richard

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This article explains the process of renaming a user’s home profile folder in Windows 11 after changing the user account name. It highlights the need to log in as a different administrator, use Command Prompt to identify the account’s SID, modify the Registry Editor, rename the folder in File Explorer, and update linked services.

This article describes how to rename a user’s home profile folder in Windows 11.

In Windows, creating a new user generates a home folder in the C:\Users directory, corresponding to the user’s account name. This has consistently been the case.

When you rename a user account to a new and unique name, the associated user home directory will not automatically change to match the new username. As a result, you will have a user account and home folder with different names in Windows.

How to rename a user account in Windows 11

If you have not renamed a user account in Windows, the following guide will assist you in doing so. Renaming Windows accounts involves a few simple steps.

Click the link below to find out how to rename a user account in Windows.

How to Change Username in Windows 11

The post explains how to change or rename a user account in Windows 11.

Rename the user’s home folder

After you’ve learned how to rename an account in Windows, continue below to find out how to rename a user’s home folder to match the new account name.

Before proceeding, it’s important to understand this: you cannot log in with the account you wish to rename. Instead, you need to log in with a different administrator account to rename the user’s home folder.

At times, you may create a new account, grant it administrator privileges, log in with that new account, and rename the targeted user’s home folder.

If you want to learn how to enable the built-in administrator account, click on the link below:

How to Enable the Administrator in Windows 11

After you have logged in as the administrator, go to Start and search for Command Prompt, then select the Command Prompt app to open.

When the Command Prompt app opens, type the commands below to list all the account SIDs on the machine.

wmic useraccount get name,SID

This will output similar lines with all the account SIDs on the system.

Output:
Name                SID
DefaultAccount      S-1-5-21-2007855691-582224021-1368697043-503
defaultuser0        S-1-5-21-2007855691-582224021-1368697043-1000
LocalAdmin          S-1-5-21-2007855691-582224021-1368697043-500
JaneDoe             S-1-5-21-2007855691-582224021-1368697043-504
Richard             S-1-5-21-3044698505-590223214-3122486089-1001

The account you want to rename will also be listed above. For this post, the targeted account to rename its home folder is Richard with SID S-1-5-21-2007855691-582224021-1368697043-501

Afterward, go to Start and search for Registry Editor, then select Open.

When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the folder path below:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

Locate the SID for Richard and open it.

Now right-click on ProfileImagePath for the correct SID and modify the data to point to the new user account’s new home folder.

Click OK to apply your changes.

Next, go to File Explorer on the Taskbar and browse the C:\Users folder. Then, select the account folder you want to rename.

Finally, type in the new folder name to match the user account name.

Exit File Explorer, and you’re done.

Also, make sure that if you’re using OneDrive, it’s also pointing to the new user home folder. That should do it, and you log out or reboot the computer.

Login and deactivate the administrator account, and you’re all set!

Conclusion:

Renaming a user’s home profile folder in Windows 11 can enhance organization and consistency. Here are the key takeaways:

  • You need to log in with a different administrator account to rename the home folder.
  • Use the Command Prompt to identify the account SID you wish to modify.
  • Access the Registry Editor to update the ProfileImagePath for the user account.
  • Rename the folder in File Explorer to match the new username.
  • Ensure that any linked services, like OneDrive, reflect the changes to avoid confusion.
  • Finally, log out of the administrator account and return to your user account to complete the process.

By following these steps, you can effectively keep your user profiles in sync and streamline your Windows 11 experience.

Richard Avatar
Richard
Richard, the owner and lead writer at Geek Rewind, is a tech enthusiast passionate about simplifying complex IT topics. His years of hands-on experience in system administration and enterprise IT operations have honed his ability to provide practical insights and solutions. Richard aims to make technology more accessible and actionable. He’s deeply committed to the Geek Rewind community, always ready to answer questions and engage in discussions. He enjoys watching football, cheering for the Minnesota Vikings, and spending time with his family when he’s not writing or managing Geek Rewind.

Comments

  1. Seema Avatar
    Seema

    Unable to open the folders on This PC. Getting an error saying that the location is not available. How should I proceed?

    Reply
  2. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    Won’t allow the folder name change, says it’s in use.

    Reply
    1. Joe Avatar
      Joe

      Hi Chris,

      you need to use an different account than this one which you want to rename. Use netplwiz.exe to create a new user with admin rights, log off the account you want to change and use the created one instead. The folder of the account you logged in with is always in use and cannot be edited

      Reply
    2. Davide Avatar
      Davide

      Devi riavviare il pc e eseguire il login come amministratore e riprovare. A me ha funzionato. Poi se usi oneDrive una volta fatto il login come utente apri l’app onedrive e imposta la nuova path utente.

      Reply
  3. ab Avatar
    ab

    For some reason in Windows 11, following this, while it works there are two problems.

    One drive brings an error in each login that it cannot find the old folder.
    I cannot pin anything to taskbar

    Reply
  4. smw Avatar
    smw

    Tried it in Windows 11, but search in settings is no longer working, cannot search anything in windows settings

    Reply
    1. Frustro Avatar
      Frustro

      That is totally correct, yet all these posts fail to mention that and now you are stuck!! A lot of these so called guru-charlatan just copy from one site some info, yet don’t have clue or never test this themselves.

      Reply
  5. Joshua Avatar
    Joshua

    Thank you very much. It works.

    Reply
  6. Joseph Reda Avatar
    Joseph Reda

    As soon as I did this in same order my windows icon did not work. I tried to go back and lost windows .. I tried to restore and nothing is working.. even I created another admin user before I started this and its not working either .. this is crazy !!

    Reply
  7. angry Avatar
    angry

    don’t do this on windows 11 if you’re logged in with a Microsoft account!!

    Reply
    1. agree Avatar
      agree

      I second that! These instructions will likely make some of your programs not work.

      Reply
  8. No One Avatar
    No One

    did not do the make a new account and i did it all in the account i want the folder to rename and now its stuck at preparing windows

    Reply
  9. Xavier Avatar
    Xavier

    Thanks for a great and straightforward set of instructions. That Microsoft would make it so hard to make such a simple change is mind-boggling. I guess there must be some security reason, but obfuscation has never been a useful security strategy!

    Reply
  10. Rasmus Avatar
    Rasmus

    This broke my windows – cannot open start menu and the windows 11 context menu broke.
    Don’t know if its related to the account being a Microsoft account – but no other way to restore but to reinstall windows.

    Honestly, don’t fucking do this.

    Reply
    1. Tanish Avatar
      Tanish

      You went into safe made, so you can undo the steps to rename back to the original name it was and you will be back to the same condition.

      Reply
  11. Puch Avatar
    Puch

    This worked for me, but later on none of the already installed apps can be updated/uninstalled as it looks at the path with the old name and errors out.

    Reply
  12. Baskar B Avatar
    Baskar B

    Not working. Rename option not enabled.

    Reply
  13. Ben Avatar
    Ben

    I keep getting the error: Cannot edit ProfileImagePath: Error writing the value’s new contents.

    I’m logged out of my main account, logged into a local account I created. I opened command prompt with administrator access. Not really sure what I’m doing wrong here.

    Reply
  14. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    This article caused more damage than the problem I was trying to solve.

    Maybe it works for some people, but if like me, your PC was preinstalled with Windows 11, then chances are your desktop and environment are actually romaing, and pointing to OneDrive directories.

    So after going through all the steps.. creating an admin user in order to rename original user, logging back in as original user, and then opening explorer it complained that the Desktop folder didnt exist, every single time I opened it.

    Luckily you can fix this. Open regedit, and navigate to..

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

    Now modify each value to replace each key where the value contains user1, and replace that bit with your new username

    Reply

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