Windows 10 How to Delete user profile after sign out

Windows Desktop Windows 10
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Hi,

We have a conference room that has a command PC which connects to a TV for people to do presentations, Skype calls, etc etc,. Ideally, I would set one user profile that everyone can use to log into it but due to certain circumstances, we have to let our every user log in the PC every time with their own username and credential.

We have 100s of the user at the moment I see more than 50 user profiles has already created in C:\Users. This has caused slow down to the PC because Windows has to set up certain things for the every user profile which will take the certain amount of storage also.

So, I need a way to delete the user profile after the user sign out the system each time. I would like to know if what others are doing similar to these situations and if there are any other good setups to accomplish what we’re attempting.
Thank you!

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Hello @AnthonyD

I hope this link would help you.

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In Windows, there is a built-in Group Policy to automatically delete user profiles older than xx days. You can find the policy Delete user profiles older than a specified number days on system restart in the GPO section Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> User Profiles . You can enable this policy in the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) or using domain policies in GPMC.msc.

Enable the policy and specify the number of days a user profile is considered active. When this period is over, Windows user profile service will automatically delete the profile at the next restart. It is recommended to specify the period of 45-90 days here.

group-policy-delete-user-profiles-older-than-a-sp-999tech

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Thank you both @VIkasmadan, @tjnihal.

It was very helpful information you have shared. I never thought there will be a easy to achieve this. Thank you very much.

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  1. Press Win + R hotkeys on the keyboard. The Run dialog will appear on the screen. …
  2. Advanced System Properties will open. …
  3. In the User Profiles window , select the profile of the user account and click the Delete button.
  4. Confirm the request, and the profile of the user account will now be deleted.
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for a detailed answer , go to this link

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OPTION ONE

To Delete User Profile of an Account in Advanced System Properties

1. If you haven’t already, you will need to make sure that the user account (ex: “Example”) you want to delete the profile of is signed out before continuing.

2. Press the Win+R keys to open Run, type SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe , and click/tap on OK to open advanced System Properties.

3. Click/tap on the Settings button under User Profiles . (see screenshot below)

Delete User Profile in Windows 10-delete_user_profile_system_properties-1.png

4. Select the profile of the user account (ex: “Example”), and click/tap on Delete . (see screenshot below)

Delete User Profile in Windows 10-delete_user_profile_system_properties-2.png

5. Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

Delete User Profile in Windows 10-delete_user_profile_system_properties-3.png

6. The profile of the user account (ex: “Example”) will now be deleted. A new profile for the user’s account will automatically be created the next time that user signs in . (see screenshot below)

Delete User Profile in Windows 10-delete_user_profile_system_properties-4.png

7. You can now close the User Profiles and System Properties windows if you like.

OPTION TWO

To Delete User Profile of an Account in File Explorer and Registry Editor

1. If you haven’t already, you will need to make sure that the user account (ex: “Example”) you want to delete the profile of is signed out before continuing.

2. Open the C:\Users folder in File Explorer, and delete the profile folder (ex: “Example”) of the user account you want. (see screenshot below)

Delete User Profile in Windows 10-manually_delete_user_profile_in_file_explorer-1.png

3. Click/tap on Continue to approve. (see screenshot below)

Delete User Profile in Windows 10-manually_delete_user_profile_in_file_explorer-2.png

4. The user profile folder (ex: “Example”) of the account will now be deleted. You can now close File Explorer. (see screenshot below)

Delete User Profile in Windows 10-manually_delete_user_profile_in_file_explorer-3.png

5. Press the Win+R keys to open Run, type regedit , and click/tap on OK to open Registry Editor.

6. Navigate to the ProfileList key in the left pane of Registry Editor at the location below. (see screenshot below)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

Delete User Profile in Windows 10-manually_delete_user_profile_in_file_explorer-4.png

7. Look at the value data for the ProfileImagePath value name in the right pane of each SID key (S-1-5-21…long number) under the ProfileList key in the left pane to find the SID key that belongs to the user profile (ex: “Example”) you want to delete. (see screenshot above)

8. When you find the correct SID key (ex: "S-1-5-21… 1007 ") in the left pane, right click or press and hold on this SID key (ex: "S-1-5-21… 1007 "), and click/tap on Delete .

9. Click/tap on Yes to confirm deleting the profile’s reference in the registry. (see screenshot below)

Delete User Profile in Windows 10-manually_delete_user_profile_in_file_explorer-5.png

10. The profile of the user account (ex: “Example”) will now be deleted. A new profile for the user’s account will automatically be created the next time that user signs in .

11. You can now close Registry Editor if you like.

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I second the suggestion given by @tjnihal.

If you are on domain environment then GPO is the best way to achive this. Remember by appling this settings you will have no option to exclude options. Which means all the users will be deleted once it reach the certain period specified by you.

If the PC is not in the domain you can achive this using local group policy setting in any of the Windows 10 device. Just search for group policy editor on Windows 10 and follow the instruction given by nihal above.

Let us know if you have any comments in this quaries.

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Above is valuable information shared by other users that can help on this subject. Additionally, I found the following information that will also be helpful to the readers.

Additional Methods for Deleting User Profiles:

  1. Using Netplwiz:
  • Open the Run dialog by pressing Win + R on your keyboard.
  • Type “netplwiz” and press Enter to open the User Accounts window.
  • Select the user profile you wish to delete.
  • Check the box next to “Delete user data for this account.”
  • Click “Apply” to confirm the deletion.
  1. Using PowerShell:
  • Open PowerShell as an administrator.
  • Type the following command, replacing <username> with the actual username of the profile you want to delete:
Remove-Profile -ProfilePath "C:\Users\<username>"
  • Press Enter to execute the command.

Important Warnings and Considerations:

  1. Data Loss:
  • Deleting a user profile will result in the permanent removal of all associated data, including documents, pictures, music, settings, and preferences.
  • Prior to deleting a user profile, it’s crucial to back up any essential data to prevent loss.
  1. Registry Editing:
  • The manual method involving Registry Editor should be approached with caution.
  • Incorrect registry edits can lead to significant system problems, making it suitable primarily for advanced users experienced in registry management.
  1. Local Group Policy:
  • The Local Group Policy method is applicable exclusively to local user accounts and does not affect domain accounts.
  • It is important to note that domain accounts may require different procedures for profile management.

I hope this information is helpful! Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

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Windows 10 allows different users to have different settings and options while using the computer. But there are occasions when you might require eliminating a user profile; this may be due to a large number of corrupt versions of the profile or because the user profile is no longer applicable.

Erasing a user profile is distinct from deleting a user’s account because it keeps the account intact but restores it to factory settings. Here is a guide on how to delete a user account in a Windows 10 system or computer.

Step 1: Back Up Important Data
When preparing to eliminate a user profile, the data stored on the profile should be backed up first. This comprises documents, movies, pictures, games, and other private content that might be located in the user’s directories.

Step 2: Delete the User Profile via System Properties

  1. Open the ‘System Properties’ dialogue box by typing SystemPropertiesAdvanced into the Run dialogue box (Windows key + R).
  2. In the ‘System Properties’ window, click the ‘Settings’ button under the ‘User Profiles’ section.
  3. select the one you wish to delete from the list of profiles and click the ‘Delete’ button. Note that the ‘Delete’ button will be greyed out if the user is currently logged in, so ensure the user is logged off before attempting this step.

Step 3: Delete the User Profile via Registry Editor (Optional)
If the profile is not removed completely, you may need to delete it manually using the Registry Editor:

  1. Navigate to C:\Users and delete the folder corresponding to the user profile.
  2. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList.
  3. Find the sub-folder corresponding to the user profile you wish to delete. It will have a ‘ProfileImagePath’ pointing to the user’s profile.
  4. Delete this sub-folder to remove the user profile completely.

Step 4: Remove the User Account (If Necessary)
If you also wish to remove the user account:

  1. Right-click the Start menu and select ‘Settings’.
  2. Go to ‘Accounts’ > ‘Family & other users’.
  3. Under ‘Other users’ or ‘Your family’, select the account you wish to remove and click ‘Remove’.

Conclusion
Deleting a user profile can help fix problems with account corruption or clean up after a user who no longer needs to use a Windows 10 computer.

A special reminder is that one should always make a copy of the data to be deleted before erasing it, and it is better to follow all the steps carefully to delete the profile. For more elaborative procedures, refer to Help Desk Geek, The Windows Club, and Tech Advisor for better guidance.