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At startup of my new Windows 10 PC I created a local administrator account (not a Microsoft account as I wasn't connected to the internet). Unfortunately when asked who was going to use this computer I typed "Just me". I have since changed this account to my name in user accounts but it remains "Just me" in windows explorer etc. Is there a specific system/registry location where this username change can be made? I believe there has to be as upon creation the initial username propagates to hundreds of registry keys within seconds of creating it.

What about creating another administrator account and deleting the initial one altogether? I could do this with little inconvenience as I have not loaded any software or files of note.

Any solutions which are guaranteed to work (if performed correctly) are appreciated.

EDIT: I just found this previous question which seems to have many valid answers. Now the task is working out the cleanest method. How to rename the User folder in Windows 10?

EDIT: So I have successfully changed the username without breaking anything and maintaining the same user profile settings as before. These are the steps I took although I'm not sure all are necessary. I also did this with the internet disconnected.

  1. Rename the account in Control Panel/User Accounts - this I had previously done and probably has no bearing on the result.

  2. Navigate to Settings/Accounts/Family & other users/Add someone else to this PC/ and create a second local administrator account. Shut down and log back in using the new account. Shutting down rather than just switching users is needed for the next step.

  3. Navigate to C:\Users and rename the original account to your preferred name.

  4. Open Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList. Find the original account and edit the name to your preferred name. Save the edit.

  5. Now shut down and restart using the original account with the updated name.

Everything works exactly as before, although I have no idea what effect this has on OneDrive or a Microsoft account - I disabled OneDrive previously and I don't have a Microsoft account.

EDIT: So since I changed the name I have discovered some inherent problems with changing the name and this is consistent with LPChip's answer below. The problems are:

  1. The new name change does not change in some non-Windows programs in the registry. For me this resulted in having to completely re-install factory software for the AMD graphics control (it couldn't find drivers).

  2. The new name change results in hundreds of obsolete and/or broken registry entries.

This was a deal breaker for me and in my opinion there are three much better options, one being the solution offered below by LPChip (below), a second being leave the name as is, and a third being a factory reset. I chose the third as I had not loaded any software or files which were not easily re-installed.

Bring back Windows 7
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The biggest problem here is that changing the username will break something, and its not always clear what it breaks. The easiest solution by far is to create a second user, login with it, copy all files from your old user over, ensure that everything works as it should (you could copy over your entire app data folder and it should give you all settings back from your programs.

Also, copy over the files from My Documents, Desktop, etc...

Also, if you create your new user, make sure it is an administrator. You can use Computer Management -> Groups -> Administrators and add your new user there or use the Settings page, but both will require an administrator to perform the action (aka, your old user)

Now use your new account for a week or two so you are absolutely sure all works correctly, then delete the old account.

Something that doesn't work and you need it quickly, just login with your old account and use it, take notes of what isn't working, and research where the files are stored, then copy those over. If its a registry setting, you can export that to .reg, and import it under your new user.

LPChip
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