How to Rename User Profile Folder in Windows 11

Getting Ready to Rename

Do these things first. A mistake in the registry can lock you out of your profile, so a few minutes of preparation is worth it.

If you are setting up a new PC, you may not need this guide at all. Microsoft’s release notes for KB5089573 say you can now choose a custom name for your user folder on the Device Name page during Windows setup. If you skip that step, Windows uses the default folder name.

The release notes describe this option only for setup. If your account already exists with a name you dislike, follow the steps in this guide.

• Back up the files in your profile, or at least Documents, Desktop, Pictures, and Downloads, to an external drive or cloud storage.
• Create a restore point if System Protection is turned on for your drive. That gives you a way back if something goes wrong.
• Choose the new folder name now. Keep it short, with no spaces or special characters, and write it down exactly. You will type it several times.
• Save any open work and close your apps.
• Make sure you have a second administrator account. If you don’t, the next sections show how to create one.

Step 1Sign Out of Your Account

Windows can’t rename a profile folder while the account is signed in, because the folder is in use. Sign out of the account you want to rename first.

1. Click the Start button.
2. Click your user account picture or name.
3. Choose Sign out. The lock screen appears.

You should now be signed out of the account you plan to rename. Don’t sign back in to it until the very end.

Step 2Log In to an Administrator Account

Sign in to a different account with administrator rights. Its permissions let you change the registry and rename another account’s folder.

If you don’t have a second admin account, create a temporary one. Do this from your main account, before you sign out:

1. Open Settings › Accounts › Other users.
2. Click Add account and follow the prompts. A local account is fine for this.
3. Select the new account in the list and click Change account type.
4. Set Account type to Administrator and click OK.
5. Sign out of your main account, then sign in to the temporary one.

You should now be signed in to an administrator account that is not the one you are renaming. If you already had another admin account, skip the creation steps and use that one.

Delete the temporary account once your profile folder is renamed and you have confirmed everything works. Remove it from Settings › Accounts › Other users.

Step 3Open Windows Terminal

Next, find your account’s SID. Windows Terminal is the quickest way to do that.

1. Right-click the Start button.
2. Choose Windows Terminal (Admin). On some builds the entry is labeled Terminal (Admin).
3. Click Yes if User Account Control asks for permission.

A dark terminal window opens. The title or tab usually says Windows PowerShell. Running it as administrator gives it the permissions it needs.

Step 4Find Your Account’s Unique ID (SID)

A Security Identifier (SID) is a unique code Windows uses to tell user profiles apart. To see the SIDs of all local accounts, follow these steps:

1. In the terminal window, type powershell "Get-LocalUser | Select-Object -Property @('Name', 'SID')" and press Enter.
2. Read the list that appears. It has two columns, Name and SID.
3. Find the row with the username of the account you want to rename.
4. Write down that SID exactly.

You should now have the SID for the account you are renaming. A SID is a long string of numbers and dashes, similar to S-1-5-21-.... To avoid typing mistakes, select the text in the terminal, press Ctrl+C to copy it, and paste it into Notepad.

Editing the Windows Registry

Now you will edit the Windows Registry, the database where Windows stores its settings, to tell Windows the new location of your user folder. This is the setting that controls your user home directory path. The Registry Editor does not ask you to confirm changes, so go slowly and change only the value described here.

Step 5Open Registry Editor

1. Press Win+R to open the Run box.
2. Type regedit and press Enter.
3. Click Yes if a User Account Control window appears.

The Registry Editor opens, with a key tree on the left and values on the right.

Step 6Go to the List of User Profiles

Find the key where Windows stores its list of user profiles. The full path is 🗝️HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileListcopy. You can expand each key in the left pane one by one, or paste that path into the address bar at the top of the Registry Editor and press Enter.

1. Expand the ProfileList key.
2. Look at the subkeys under it. Each one is named after the SID of an account on your computer.
3. Click the subkey that matches the SID you wrote down.

The right pane now shows the values for that profile.

Look at the ProfileImagePath value in the right pane. It shows the current user folder path, like C:\Users\YourOldName. When the path ends with your old folder name, you have the right key. Some of the shorter SIDs belong to system accounts, so you can ignore those.

Step 7Change the Profile Path

With the correct SID key selected, look for the entry that tells Windows where your user folder is.

1. In the right pane, find the entry named ProfileImagePath.
2. Double-click ProfileImagePath to open it for editing.

An Edit String window opens with the current path in it.

Step 8Enter the New Folder Name

Change that path so it ends with your new folder name.

1. In the Edit String window, find the Value data box.
2. Replace only the old folder name at the end of the path with your new name. Type the full updated path, using a short name without spaces or special characters.
3. Check the spelling carefully. It must match the name you will give the folder in File Explorer📁.
4. Click OK to save. The new path now shows in the Data column next to the value.
5. Close the Registry Editor and Windows Terminal.

You should now have the registry pointing to the new folder name. No restart is needed yet.

Important: Use a plain name without unusual characters. Remember the exact new name and its full path for the next steps. If you change your mind later, you can edit this value back to the old path, as long as you haven’t renamed the folder yet.

Renaming the Actual Folder

The registry now has the new path. Next, rename the folder on your computer so it matches. If the two don’t match when you sign in, Windows can’t load your profile and may sign you in with a temporary one.

Step 9Open File Explorer

1. Press Win+E to open File Explorer📁.

Step 10Go to the Users Folder

In File Explorer, go to the main folder where user profiles are kept. It’s usually here: C:\Users

You should see a folder for each account on the PC, plus a few system folders such as Public.

Step 11Rename the Profile Folder

1. Find the folder with your old user profile name.
2. Click it once to select it.
3. Click the Rename icon on the toolbar at the top, or right-click the folder and choose Rename.

The folder name becomes editable.

Step 12Enter the New Name

Now type the new name. It must match, letter for letter, the name you put in the registry path.

1. Type the exact new name you chose earlier.
2. Press Enter to confirm.
3. Click Continue if Windows asks for administrator permission.

That’s it for the rename. The folder now shows the new name in the list, and it matches the path in the registry.

Tip: If you get an error saying the folder is in use, make sure you are signed out of the account you’re renaming and signed in to an administrator account. If the error persists, restart the PC, sign in directly to the admin account, and try again before opening any other apps.

Creating a Shortcut (Optional but Recommended)

This next step is a bit more advanced, but it helps prevent problems. Some older programs may still look for your folder under the old name. A symbolic link, often called a symlink, works like a smart shortcut. It redirects requests for the old path to the new folder.

Step 13Open Command Prompt as Administrator

1. Click the Start button and search for cmd.
2. Right-click the result and select Run as administrator.
3. Click Yes if User Account Control appears.

A Command Prompt window opens. Its title should say Administrator: Command Prompt.

Step 14Create the Symbolic Link

Create the link with the mklink command. Its format is mklink /d “📁C:\Users\YourOldFolderNamecopy” “📁C:\Users\YourNewFolderNamecopy”. The first path is the link you are creating, which uses the old name. The second path is the real folder, which uses the new name.

For example, if your old folder was C:\Users\Richard2 and your new one is C:\Users\Richard3, the command would be: mklink /d "C:\Users\Richard2" "C:\Users\Richard3"

1. Type the command with your own old and new folder names in place of the placeholders.
2. Press Enter. If it works, a message says the symbolic link was created.
3. Look in your C:\Users folder. A new folder with a small shortcut arrow on its icon now appears there.

You should now have a link that sends any program using the old path to your renamed folder.

Warning: If you skip the symbolic link and later find that some apps can’t find your files, reopen Command Prompt as administrator and create the link then.

Final Checks

You’re almost done. Sign out of the admin account, then sign in to your renamed account. Windows should load your desktop and files as normal.

If you see a message about a temporary profile, stop and check that the registry path and the folder name match exactly. Once your desktop loads, do the last checks below so everything works with the new folder name.

Step 15Check OneDrive Settings (If You Use It)

If you use OneDrive, check it after you sign in. Its folder paths may still point to the old profile name, which can cause syncing errors or missing files.

1. Click the OneDrive cloud icon in the system tray🔔.
2. Click the gear icon, then choose Settings.
3. Go to Settings › Account › Choose folders and check that your folders are listed and syncing.

You should now know whether OneDrive follows the new folder name. If it still shows errors or points to the old path, go to Settings › Account and click Unlink this PC, then sign in again. Your files in the cloud are not deleted by this.

Step 16Rebuild the Windows Search Index

After a rename, search can be slow or show outdated results because the index, the list Windows keeps of your files, still holds the old file locations. Rebuilding the index fixes this.

1. In the Start menu⊞ search, type Indexing Options and open it.
2. Click the Advanced button.
3. Under “Troubleshooting,” click the Rebuild button.
4. Click OK to confirm.

That’s it. The window shows that indexing is in progress. This can take a while, depending on how many files you have, and your computer might feel a bit slower during this time. You can keep working while it runs.

Summary

To rename a user profile folder safely in Windows 11, sign in to a different administrator account, find your account’s SID, update the ProfileImagePath value in the registry, rename the folder in File Explorer, and create a symbolic link from the old name to the new one. Then check OneDrive and rebuild the Windows search index so your apps and files work normally.

On a new PC, remember that update KB5089573 lets you choose a custom user folder name on the Device Name page during setup, so you can avoid the rename. Once you’ve confirmed everything works, delete any temporary admin account you created.