How to Change User Profile Folder Name in Windows 11

If you’re stuck with a crummy user profile folder name on Windows 11, there are ways to change it to your liking.

When you create a new user account in Windows 11, the Operating System (OS) automatically creates a new user profile folder in C:UsersUsername. However, this default user profile folder name is not always what you want.

Windows, by default, will use the first five characters of your user account name as the profile folder name. If you don’t like the user profile folder name, you can change it using a registry hack. Here we show you how to change user profile folder name in Windows 11.

How to create a new admin user account

To change the name of your current user profile, you must log in to another administrator account. You cannot modify an existing user account profile path from the same account.

If you don’t have another administrator account, follow these steps to create a new administrator user account.

To create a new administrator account:

1. hurry Win + I to open Settings.
2. Open the Accounts tab in the left pane.
3. Click on Family and other users in the right pane.

4. Click on Add an account below Other Users. This option is useful if you want to create a local user account without a Microsoft account.

5. Then click on I do not have this person’s login information.

6. Click on Add user without a Microsoft account.
7. Type a name for the user account. Leave the password field blank and click Following.
8. Click on the new user account and click Change account type.
9. Click on the drop-down menu to Type of account and select Administrator.
10. Click on Okay to save changes.

You can now log in with your new administrator account. To do this, click on To start upclick on the name of the user profile and select Logout. You are now logging in with the new administrator account.

How to Change User Profile Folder Name Using Registry Editor

You can edit the registry entries associated with your user account to change the name of the user profile folder in Windows 11. This process involves editing your registry entries, so we recommend creating a restore point. You can use restore point to restore your PC if something happens during the process.

To change the user profile folder name:

1. Log out of the user account for which you want to change the user profile name. Then log in with another administrator account.
2. Then open the command prompt. To do this, press Win + R, type ordered and click Okay.

3. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command to display the SID (Security Identifier) ​​of all user accounts:

   wmic useraccount get name,SID

4. Here note the SID for the user account whose user profile folder name you want to change. In this case, the SID for username tashr is S-1-5-21-200486166-247335145-1769094253-1001.
5. Then press Win + Rtype regedit and click Okay to open Registry Editor.
6. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following location:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionProfileList

7. Inside of List of profiles key, locate and click on the name of the key identical to the SID you noted earlier.
8. In the right pane, right click on ProfileImagePath value and select To modify.

9. Enter a name you want for the profile folder and click Okay.

10. Close Registry Editor and the Command Prompt window if they are open.
11. Then press Win + E to open File Explorer and navigate to C:Users.

12. Select your user profile and press F2 top rename. Enter a new name for your user profile (must match the username entered in Registry Editor).
13. Click away, then click Continue to save changes.

You may sometimes encounter the error “You cannot perform this action” when renaming the folder. This error often occurs if you switch to another administrator account without logging out of the main user account. You can also restart your PC and repeat the steps to rename the user profile folder without the error.

Then, log out of your current account and log in to the user account whose name is changed. Open File Explorer and navigate to C:Usersand you should be able to use the previous profile with the new pathname.

Rename Default User Profile Folder in Windows 11

Although you can rename the user account in Windows 11 using Control Panel, it will not change the user profile folder name. For this, you need to modify the ProfileImagePath value in the registry editor with a different administrator account. Once done, you can delete the new admin user account to declutter your login screen.

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