Solved Can't delete a Local User account

I have a MS account as my primary user. I recently added a local user account and decided to remove it. I used the setting for Accounts>Other Users to remove it, but when I get to the login screen it defaults to the local user. I can still switch to my MS account, but I want to remove the local account entirely. Never having used a local account before I used the same account name as my MS account, in hindsight I should have used a different name. Anyone know what I need to do?

Hello mate,

Did you by chance ever set up ntplwiz to automatically sign in to the local account at startup?

Brink said:

Hello mate,

Did you by chance ever set up ntplwiz to automatically sign in to the local account at startup?

Enable or Disable Automatically Sign in Account at Startup in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable automatically sign in to a specific account at startup to boot directly to the desktop in Windows 11. By default at the startup of Windows 11, you need to dismiss the Lock screen, select the account you want to sign in to on the Sign-in...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. When I open the User Accounts, I have a listing "Guest Account." I am guessing that is the account I want to delete, but when I attempt to make that selection it won't activate, the only selection that allows a change is my MS account, as highlighted in blue in my attachment. Does that help in making a decision as the steps I need to take?

Check the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer box in netplwiz and click/tap on OK to see if that may sort this for you.

Brink said:

Check the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer box in netplwiz and click/tap on OK to see if that may sort this for you.

Click to expand...

Thanks...that solved it! As a side note, I deleted the local user account through the Settings by logging in as an administrator.
In the Accounts, I selected Family & other users and deleted the account. I thought that was the correct method to remove it and it would no longer have any trace of being installed including the login screen. Is the usual result that it still shows at the login screen?
Thanks again for your assistance.

Great news.

This can happen when netplwiz was set up for an account that got deleted.

To fully remove the User Profile go to Search or press the Windows key +R in the box type
sysdm.cpl and press Enter.
Go to the Advanced Tab
Under User Profiles click the Settings Button
Select the Local User Profile you want to remove and click the Delete Button.
Restart the computer and the user profile will no longer be listed in the login and there will no longer be this profile under C:\Users

Or literally just open command prompt and type net user addusersnamehere /delete

(Pressing shift and f10 will open command prompt in setup.exe or in your normal windows screen or anywhere else in any app even in the windows setup screen after installing a new copy of windows , windows key + R will open the run box to type cmd.exe (pressing ctrl and enter to run in admin mode instead of just enter which launches in normal mode)

Any leftover files in the users folder just type erase C:/Users/usersprofile and press y to confirm

Or open regedit.exe and delete the user from the users section or clicking on COMPUTER in the very top left of the regedit tree display folder menu thingy and typing users or the actual username in the search bar (one of the f keys I think it’s f3 will open up a “find” search bar) and click f3 to keep finding any other mentions file by file completely erasing it from not just the pc but the entire registry.

windowskey + r bring up the run.exe and type netplwiz to bring up a user gui showing active online user account (great to check you don’t have other remote users on your pc) but also can delete add or change their permissions (admin or user) and open up user setting where you can remove the profile.

Sure I can think of more but these are just a few off the top of my head