How to Change a Username / Account Name in Windows 10

To change the Windows 10 username of a linked Microsoft account you need to access account options in a webbrowser. After changing your user name there, the effect will be reflected in Windows 10 and other linked products such as Xbox, Skype etc..

1. Open your Microsoft account in the web-browser
   

   
   Head to account.microsoft.com/account and click on “Your info”.
   
   

2. Click on “Edit name”

   
   

3. Select a new account name and click “Save”
   

   
   

4. Check if the username change has been applied correctly
   

   
   Your new account name will be changed also on Windows 10 after logging in the next time after Windows 10 synced with your account information in the cloud.
   
   

Local account names can be changed easily via the control panel for normal users and for administrator accounts.

1. Open “Control Panel”
   
   
2. Switch to “Small icons” view or search for “User Accounts”
   

   
   

3. Open Windows 10 “User Accounts”
   

   
   

4. Select “Manage another account”
   

   
   

5. Klick on the user account name you want to change
   

   
   

6. Select “Change the account name”
   

   
   

7. Choose a new Windows username
   

   
   Write in “New account name” and click “Change Name”.
   
   

8. Check if your changed account name is correct
   

   
   

Changing a Windows user name via Local Users and Groups is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

1. Run the “usrmgr.msc”-command
   

   
   Open the run-dialog via the hotkey “Windows + R” and launch the command “usrmgr.msc”.
   
   

2. Select the Windows 10 user name you want to change
   

   
   Click on “Users” on the left side and double click the account name you want to change.
   
   

3. Add the new account name you want to use and click “OK”
   

   
   

4. Check the list if the username has been changed successfully
   

   
   

The Advanced User Accounts control panel “Netplwiz” lets you perform various user management tasks such as changing the account name of a local user, assigning users to groups, manage passwords and set some security features.

1. Run the “netplwiz”-command

   
   Open the run-dialog via the hotkey “Windows + R” and launch the command “netplwiz“.
   
   

2. Select password-based logon and username
   

   
   Check “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer”, select the local account you want to change the name of, and click/tap on “Properties”.
   
   

3. Put the new account name at “User name” and click “OK”.
   

   
   

Changing a Windows 10 user name for a local account is also possible via the command prompt.

1. Open an elevated command prompt
   

   
   Search for “CMD” or “Command Prompt” using Windows 10 search and click on “Run as administrator”.
   
   

2. List existing Windows 10 user names
   

   
   Run the following command to list all user account names and note the one you want to change.

   wmic useraccount get fullname, name

   
   
   

3. Set a new account name with
   

   
   Run the following command to change the account name replacing “Current User Name” and “New Account Name” accordingly:

   wmic useraccount where name="Current User Name" rename "New Account Name"

   
   
   

As an alternative to the CMD-method, you can also change a Windows 10 user name with PowerShell.

1. Open an elevated PowerShell
   

   
   Right-click the Start-button and select “Windows PowerShell (Admin)”.
   
   

2. List existing Windows 10 user names

   
   Run the command Get-LocalUser to list all existing Windows 10 user accounts and note the username you want to change.
   
   

3. Rename username of local account
   

   
   Run the following command to change the account name replacing “Current User Name” and “New Account Name” accordingly: 

   Rename-LocalUser -Name "Current Name" -NewName "New Name"

    

   

This option is only available in the Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise editions.

1. Open Windows 10 Local Security Policy
   

   
   Search for “secpol.msc” using Windows 10 search and click on the result.
   
   

2. Open the “Rename administrator account” policy
   

   
   Navigate to “Local Policies – Security Options” and open “Accounts: Rename administrator account” via double-click.
   
   

3. Change the Windows 10 administrator name
   

   
   Change “Administrator” to any other account name you want to use for the built-in hidden Windows 10 admin account.