Windows 11 home local user account confusion

[josh2026]

Hi,

net user does not display my current local logon account - josh

it displays account called joseph. This account is not displayed as an option on the login screen.

I installed the autologon file to enable automatic login. when i enter my current josh - invalid
when I enter joseph it is valid.

In file explorer under users, there is no josh nor joseph folders.
There is a folder called jospr which contains all my profile folders - desktop downloads etc.

can this be explained?

 

[Ghot]

Hello @josh2026 and welcome to ElevenForum.


What does Settings > Accounts ...show?

 

[Helmut]

In file explorer under users, there is no josh nor joseph folders.
There is a folder called jospr which contains all my profile folders - desktop downloads etc.

can this be explained?

That is explained by Windows truncating the user profile name to 5 characters when you first set up the system using a Microsoft Account.
It takes the first 5 letters of the Email Address.

That annoying feature is avoided by setting up with a Local Account initially.

No idea what you have done with Accounts, other than maybe creating a 'test' Admin account.
I always use the windows dialogs.

 

[FreeBooter]

The Net user command shows Joseph as one of the user accounts.

 

[josh2026]

setttings - accounts

 

[MisterEd]

I figured out what is going on by duplicating what you are seeing.

Joseph is the actual "User name". Joseph Prior is the "Full name" for this user. The "Full name" acts as a "Display name".
You see Joseph when you run "net user".
You see Joseph Prior when you run Settings > Accounts.

The Full name can be set or changed by running netplwiz from the command line.

Select user Joseph and then Properties

You can set or change Full name Joseph Prior there.
Note if you delete the Full name there then Settings > Accounts will then show Joseph.

 

[josh2026]

when I run netplwiz the properties dialog is greyed out.

 

[MisterEd]

Do you have Windows 11 Home or Pro? Also, are you running Windows 11 25H2? I have i have Windows 11 Pro 25H2.

I found other people having the same problem with netplwiz. That was especially true for Windows 11 24H2.

Netplwiz not working

https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/netplwiz-not-working/

I used the Advance tab in netplwiz to show another way to show/change the Full name.

1. In netplwiz select Advanced tab

2. Select Advanced button

3a. Select Users to show all the users
3b. Right-click on Joseph
3c. Select Properties

4a. Make sure General tab is selected
4b. You can change/delete the Full name for Joseph

 

[josh2026]

when I click on advanced

 

[Bree]

when I run netplwiz the properties dialog is greyed out.

Welcome to Eleven Forum.

Properties is greyed out if 'Users must enter a username and password to use this computer' is not selected.

If 'Users must enter a username and password to use this computer' is missing from Netplwiz, then you need to turn off 'passwordless sign in'.

Enable or Disable Passwordless Sign-in for Microsoft Accounts in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off only allow Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts for passwordless sign-in on your Windows 11 device. You can keep your device even more secure by removing passwords when signing in to Windows 11 with Microsoft accounts on your device. All...

www.elevenforum.com

when I click on advanced....

That is not available in your Home edition, only in Pro.

 

[MisterEd]

I agree. If you don't have a password then you will be very limited in what you can do.

It is no big deal for me to have a password. However, I also have a PIN. Normally I use the PIN because it is much faster to log in that way. It probably only takes a second to enter the PIN.

BTW, the problem is not with Windows 11 Home. I just tried the same thing with it and had no problems with netplwiz,

Also, I just checked out using the Windows 11 Control Panel to configure a user. It is much easier to use it for that.

Here is how to change the user Full name in the Control Panel. There they call it account name. Even if you change the account name to Joseph Prior the actual user name is still Joseph.

 

[hershey4]

It takes the first 5 letters of the Email Address.

Thank you so much for that!! Now I understand where a certain account came from on my system. I was scratching my head!!! I had reluctantly created a MS account initially to activate and now wanting to clean it up.

 

[Bree]

Thank you so much for that!! Now I understand where a certain account came from on my system. I was scratching my head!!! I had reluctantly created a MS account initially to activate and now wanting to clean it up.

Be careful not to delete that original account until you have made another account that is an administrator. You need an administrator account in order to manage your Windows.

 

[hershey4]

Be careful not to delete that original account until you have made another account that is an administrator.

Funny you say that... I've been physically looking at the option to remove it and have not pulled the trigger.

My Local user account is definitely an Administrator. Could I ever possibly want/need that MS account for anything? The account still lives in MS cloud, right? might I ever need to re-activate/repair/whatever Office 2024 or W11 or something along those lines. I thought I read they purge inactive MS accounts. (which doesn't actually have anything to do with my deleting it off my PC. account will be inactive regardless)

And if I do Remove, will that automatically get rid of the "penny" file structure I found under c:\users and any other penny things?

 

[Bree]

Funny you say that... I've been physically looking at the option to remove it and have not pulled the trigger.

My Local user account is definitely an Administrator. Could I ever possibly want/need that MS account for anything? The account still lives in MS cloud, right? might I ever need to re-activate/repair/whatever Office 2024 or W11 or something along those lines. I thought I read they purge inactive MS accounts. (which doesn't actually have anything to do with my deleting it off my PC. account will be inactive regardless)

And if I do Remove, will that automatically get rid of the "penny" file structure I found under c:\users and any other penny things?

That screenshot is from Settings > Accounts > Your accounts. It looks like you are signed in to a Local account that has your 'penny....' MS account added as an account that MS apps can use. That is how I use an MS account with my Local account. This lets me use MS apps such as OneDrive. It will also used by your Office 2024 when it saves to the cloud. You don't want to remove the MS account from there.

As for the Penny file structure in C:\Users, that would have been created when you (reluctantly) first set up Windows with that 'penny' MS account.

It's not clear what happened to that first account, as it doesn't seem to be in the list of accounts in the screenshot from your post #1.
Did you delete it, rename it, or what?

 

[hershey4]

It's not clear what happened to that first account, as it doesn't seem to be in the list of accounts in the screenshot from your post #1.
Did you delete it, rename it, or what?

sorry Post #1 was not me. Afraid I hijacked @josh2026 thread. Sorry @josh2026

i started this thread about my issues recently. What is Public user?

That screenshot is from Settings > Accounts > Your accounts. It looks like you are signed in to a Local account that has your 'penny....' MS account added as an account that MS apps can use.

hmmm... that's interesting concept.. MS account added to my Local account. Have to mull that over. In my mind they were separate.

I never ever want to use Onedrive or sign into any MS apps. I went through a lot of trouble to sign out of everything. Some were quite under the radar.

 

[idgat]

I went through a lot of trouble to sign out of everything.

Signing out doesn't necessarily rid the device of the sign-in record/user account. There are certain circumstances in MS products (Windows, Edge, Office, et al) that when MS gets a sniff of a user account, it's forever, albeit buried/hidden, and can rear it's ugly head at the convenience of MS

 

[hershey4]

Signing out doesn't necessarily rid the device of the sign-in record/user account.

Right, didn't expect it to. Just trying to figure out why I need that MS account showing any longer. Maybe if I remove it, the SignIn button will disappear from all the MS apps. That would be nice.

And maybe I wouldn't have gotten this annoying Upgrade banner the last Office update.

 

[idgat]

And maybe I wouldn't have gotten this annoying Upgrade banner the last Office update.

Nothing to do with your actions, or otherwise, and nothing you or other users can do about it. Microsoft call it "marketing", users call it annoying ... which MS seem to excel in when Office products are concerned (memories of the days of Mr Clippy keep flashing back ....)

 

[Bree]

sorry Post #1 was not me. Afraid I hijacked @josh2026 thread. Sorry @josh2026

Sorry, my mistake.

Open a command prompt and type the command net users then post a screenshot so I can see what accounts you have.

hmmm... that's interesting concept.. MS account added to my Local account. Have to mull that over. In my mind they were separate.

I never ever want to use Onedrive or sign into any MS apps. I went through a lot of trouble to sign out of everything. Some were quite under the radar.

If you set up Windows using a a Microsoft account for the first account, then by default it uses the first 5 character of the email as the name for the account's user folder. If you subsequently switch that account from a Microsoft account to a Local account it keeps the original user folder name, even if you then change the Local account's name. When you switch from a Microsoft account to a local account your MS account is not completely removed, it is added to 'Your accounts' so that MS apps can still use it if needed.

Switch to Local Account from Microsoft Account in Windows 11
Change User Account Name in Windows 11