Change name of local user account

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Hi,

I have started the horeendous process of setting up a new Windows 11 laptop.

Here’s my first real issue . . . under “Users” I have two accounts “Public” and “theol”.

I have zero idea how “theol” got its name, anyway I’d like to rename it “Martin” (being my name).

I’ve searched online but cannot find out how to do this.

Help please !

Thanks, Martin

 

 

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Is theol the beginning of your email address you used when setting up? That’s normal. On a new install without having done much, I would create a new LOCAL user account “Martin” make it an administrator, then delete the old user “theol”. If you’d prefer to change the account folder and name this may help https://www.elevenforum.com/t/change-name-of-user-profile-folder-in-windows-11.2133/

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cyberSAR wrote:

If you’d prefer to change the account folder and name this may help https://www.elevenforum.com/t/change-name-of-user-profile-folder-in-windows-11.2133/

That only changes the folder name though. Changing user name is a separate tutorial:

Change User Account Name in Windows 11

I agree that if the folder name needs to be changed as well, it’s easier to add a new account and delete the old one.

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Thanks for the replies.

I dare not try the elevenforum routine ! Wimp, I know.

To get back to something that worked, I reset the new PC to factory conditions to start over, as I hadn’t done much to it.

Sadly, the “theol” folder reappeared on its own despite logging in with an email address starting with “marti” (you can guess what that was)  !

I have to admit I am confused now. There is ONLY ONE ACCOUNT om this machine. It is an Admin account. Windows decided for me that there are separate file areas for the user “theol” and for public things. I am comfortable with that, having used it on Windows 10.

I don’t think that “theol” is an account – it is just where Windows stores the files for the one user.  So I don’t think I can delete “theol” can I ?

Are you saying delete the only user ? I don’t know how to do that and what effect it will have – surely there has to be one account left ?

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Not sure why it’s creating the folder as “theol” unless maybe that was a user folder when you initially setup an MS login???? No idea! I always setup a local account first, even if the client is going to sign in with an MS account that way I can make the user folder name anything.

When you are in the theol account you can go to settings > Accounts and add another user. Choose I don’t have the login info then create local account Martin. After created, go back and change user type of Martin to administrator. Then log out of the theol acct and log in to Martin. I like to do a few tweaks, restart, log in to Martin again and then go to accounts and delete theol along with files and settings.

Make sure you have an image backup or a way to reset pc just in case there is something weird with your system and theol.

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Thank you very much.

The thing is I am not logged into a theol account ! I think it is just the user folder name associated with the account I   AM  logged in as.

 

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Ah, so you would probably have an issue creating another Martin acct. Sorry I’m slow today I guess you could create an admin user Ralph or something. Delete Martin (theol folder) and recreate Martin. Or, if you do a factory reset when it comes time to setup user account use the no@thankyou.com hack to set up the local Martin account.

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Where did you get that copy of Windows 11? Something doesn’t sound right…

Windows 10 Pro 22H2

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To confirm the directory you have been “assigned”:
Open a Command Prompt – Win key, CMD, Enter
Type: set u

Look for “userprofile”. It will contain the user directory.

cheers, Paul

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Drcard:))

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The underlying issue here is that I want some software to run the same way on two separate PCs. To do that they have to have the same file paths – ie the usernames need to be the same.

I can if course use C > Users > Public folders – which is what I have been doing for years.

Now I have 1TB of free storage in OneDrive, however OneDrive will only backup from the C > Users <myusername> area.

How can I make the file paths the same in C > Users <myusername> on two different PCs so that:

1. My software works on both PCs
2. I can use OneDrive

I’m sure there must be a way but I can’t find it !

I have searched and searched for a way to get OneDrive to sync folders in the Public user area, with no luck.

Any help gratefully received

Martin

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Changing the name of the user profile folder by following the ElevenForum.com tutorial is not difficult and many people have used it successfully.

The only alternative is to start again by creating a new account after renaming the current user.

@cyberSAR already provided both answers. You need to choose one.

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WSMartinM

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Or tell the software to use %USERPROFILE% as the file path.

cheers, Paul

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wavy

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Or use %onedrive% for the OneDrive path. I use this in an access script to save to different OneDrive locations on different PCs.

Eliminate spare time: start programming PowerShell

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wavy

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