All things change, including the user accounts you want on your computer. There are many ways to delete a user account in Windows 10, and we're going to show you six of them today.
The easiest way to delete a user account in Windows 10 is via the settings menu, but that's not suitable for everyone. At times, it can throw up errors, run into conflicts with family groups, or be unsuitable for an enterprise environment.
As a result, this tutorial will cover how to remove an account through settings, the Control Panel, Computer Management, netplwiz, PowerShell, and command prompt. Let's get started:
How To Delete a User Account via Settings
This is the easiest way to delete a Windows 10 user account and the method most people should use.
- Open settings
Press the Windows key to open the Start Menu and click the settings cog on the left-hand side.
- Open Account settings
In the Windows Settings app, click “Accounts”.
- Open “Family & other users”
On the left side-panel of account settings, click “Family & other users”. Then, click on the account you'd like to delete.
- Click “Remove”
- Delete the account
Back up any local files you need and click “Delete account and data” to fully remove it.
How To Delete a Windows 10 Account via the Control Panel
- Open Control Panel
Press the Windows key and type “Control Panel”. Click the first result under ‘Best match'.
- Go to User Accounts
In the Control Panel, click on the “User Accounts” category.
- Manage another account
Under “Make changes to your user account”, click “Manage another user account”.
- Click on the Windows 10 user account you'd like to delete
- Make changes to the account
In the next window, click the text that says “Delete the account”.
- Press Delete Files
Read the small print and make any required backups before clicking “Delete Files”.
- Confirm the deletion
How To Remove a User Account with Computer Management
- Open Computer Management
Press the Windows key and type “Computer Management”. Click the first result under ‘Best match'.
- Open “Local Users and Groups”
The “Local Users and Groups” subheading can be found under ‘System Tools' in the left sidebar. Click it.
- Click “Users”
- Find the account
The Users folder contains a list of all the accounts on the PC. Click the person you'd like to delete, in our case, ‘Elena Mendoza'.
- Click “More Actions”
- Click “Delete”
- Read the small print
Windows 10 will now inform you that deleting a user account via this method will delete its identifier, meaning that even if you create an account with the same username they'll be unable to access the old user's files. If you're okay with that, click “Yes”.
How To Delete Windows 10 User Account via netplwiz
- Open netplwiz
Press the Windows key and type “netplswiz. Click the first result under ‘Best match'.
- Find the account
This will open a list of all users. Find the user you'd like to delete and click “Remove”.
- Click “Yes”
Make sure you read Microsoft's warning so you know exactly what you're getting into.
How To Delete a User Account in Windows 10 via PowerShell
The command-line often provides faster methods for advanced users. Here's how to delete a user account in Windows 10 with PowerShell:
- Open PowerShell as an Admin
Press “Windows + X” and then click “Windows PowerShell (Admin)”.
- Find the user list
Type Get-LocalUser to return a list of all the accounts and their official names.
- Remove the user
Type Remove-LocalUser -Name “Elena Mendoza”. Bear in mind that though there's no warning, the same applies as when you delete an account via any other method – you may permanently lose access to its files.
How To Delete a User Account in Windows 10 via Command Prompt
Some prefer to use Command Prompt as their terminal of choice. Here's the method for Microsoft's classic command-line tool:
- Open Command Prompt
Press the Windows key and type “Command Prompt”. Click the first result under ‘Best match'.
- Get a list of users
In the Command Prompt interface, type net users to get a list of all the accounts. Take note of the one you wish to delete.
- Delete the user
Type net user “Elena Mendoza” /delete to remove the user account. Bear in mind that you may also lose all of its data, so you should still make a backup first.
- Delete a user account from domain
If the above command does not work, it's likely because the account is a domain user rather than a local one. You can remedy this by adding /domain to the end of the command, like so:
net user “Elena Mendoza” /delete /domain
