Locked out of Windows: Can't remove account due to forgotten password

So, I’ve got two different accounts set up on my laptop: Lana and Laura. Lana is my admin account, but Laura is the one that pops up by default every time I boot up. The problem is, I’m totally locked out of Laura because the password just isn't working anymore. Seriously, I've tried a thousand different combinations I can think of, but nothing sticks. To make things worse, I didn't even bother making a password reset USB for that account. I can still get into Lana just fine, but I’ve looked everywhere—Control Panel, Computer Management, settings, netplwiz... you name it. I just can't find any trace of the Laura account to actually delete it. Is there any way to hunt down this account and wipe it out without having to go through the nightmare of reinstalling Windows? Thanks!

rowdyjackal35 said:I've got two accounts set up on my laptop: Lana and Laura. Lana is the admin account. Laura is just the default one that pops up when I boot the computer. I can't get into Laura because the password doesn't work anymore. I tried a thousand different ones, but nothing sticks. I didn't even make a password reset USB for it. I can log into Lana just fine, but I don't see the Laura account anywhere in the Control Panel, Computer Management, settings, or netplwiz to delete it. Is there any way to find that account and kill it without reinstalling Windows? Thanks!

Just log into Lana, fire up an admin command prompt, and type

net user Laura /delete

Easy peasy. 🙂

With net user, you can add, edit, rename, lock, unlock, add to a domain, change paths, or swap passwords for any user. You can even set specific login hours or list which machines a user can access. Pretty much anything.

You could even strip the password from Laura so you don't need one at all.

net user Laura /passwordreq:no

cosmicorca16 said:Just log into Lana, fire up an admin command prompt, and type

net user Laura /delete

Super easy, no biggie. 🙂

With net user, you can basically do everything—add, change, rename, lock, unlock, add people to a domain, mess with paths, or reset any user's password. You can even set specific login hours for someone or make a list of which computers they can or can't access. It's pretty powerful.

For example, you could just strip the password off Laura's account so you don't even need one.

net user Laura /passwordreq:no

I tried all that and all I got back was this:

NET USER
[username [password | *] [options]] [/DOMAIN]
username {password | *} /ADD [options] [/DOMAIN]
username [/DELETE] [/DOMAIN]
username [/TIMES:{times | ALL}]
username [/ACTIVE: {YES | NO}]

Ugh, I am totally lost. Now what?

rowdyjackal35 said:I tried all that crap and just got this error message:

NET USER
[username [password | *] [options]] [/DOMAIN]
username {password | *} /ADD [options] [/DOMAIN]
username [/DELETE] [/DOMAIN]
username [/TIMES:{times | ALL}]
username [/ACTIVE: {YES | NO}]

I guess I don't know what I'm doing. Now what?

Nothing. Looks like you finally finished off Laura once and for all.😁

cosmicorca16 said:So, nothing much. I guess you just finished off Lana once and for all 😁

Sadly, I didn't, because she's still hanging around there 😵

rowdyjackal35 said:Sadly, I haven't because it's still sitting right there. 😵

Then you go and mess something up. What? Who knows. I'm not some psychic Milan.

just type

net user

That should spit out a list of all the accounts on the laptop. A couple are just service accounts (admin, guest, etc.) and then the users. Check if Laura is on there.

after that, type

net user Laura /delete

instead of Laura, put in the actual username. 😁

Now type

net user

and see if Laura shows up on the list.

It’s possible Laura is actually dead and gone, and all that's left is her last login. 🤔

BTW, it would be helpful if you mentioned which version of Windows you're running.

cosmicorca16 said:And then you’re doing something wrong. I don't know what, I'm not some psychic, Milan.

just type

net user

That should spit out a list of all the accounts on your laptop. A couple will be service ones (admin, guest, windef) and then the users. Check if Laura is on there.

after that, type

net user Laura /delete

instead of Laura, put the actual username😁

Now, just type

net user

and see if Laura shows up on the list

It's possible Laura is actually dead and gone, and all that's left is her last login info🤔

BTW, it would be awesome if you mentioned which version of Windows you're running.

I'm not doing anything wrong, Milan. Laura isn't on the list here or anywhere else I mentioned in my first post. I had no idea it was possible for an account to be gone but still leave a login behind. Guess that's probably why.

If that doesn't do the trick:
Control Panel -> User Accounts -> manage another account

Otherwise, this might work:
https://www.alphr.com/delete-user-profile-windows-10/
Take a look at how to delete a user profile; you'll basically need to wipe the directory in C:\Users and tweak the registry, which I've linked there for you.

driftingcanyon2 said:Control Panel -> User Accounts -> manage another account

If I’m reading you right, you’re basically preaching the Linux gospel on here. Shouldn't you be pushing some CMD or terminal fix instead of just clicking through icons? 😬

Anyway, looks like that account was already deleted before she even asked, which is why she can't log in—it's not even a password issue at this point.

She probably thinks it's still there because the recent login list shows it. Standard confusion, right?

cosmicorca16 said:If I’m reading you correctly, you seem pretty keen on pushing Linux everywhere on this forum. Honestly, it might be better to suggest some command line or terminal-based fix rather than just clicking through icons. 😬

Anyway, it looks like that account was actually deleted before she even had a chance to ask her question, which would explain why she can't get past the login screen.

I suspect there's probably a list of recent logins somewhere that's still showing the old credentials, so she likely assumes the account is still active when it isn't.

True, but using the GUI makes things easier to grasp. 😁 It's possible a leftover User Profile is still sitting on the disk, so I included a link with steps on how to clear out an old user profile.

driftingcanyon2 said:If that doesn't work, try this:
Control Panel -> User Accounts -> manage another account

Otherwise, you'll have to go this route:
https://www.alphr.com/delete-user-profile-windows-10/
Check out the stuff about deleting user profiles—you basically gotta kill the directory in C:\Users and then tweak the registry. There's an example on the link there.

Man, that was super helpful, thank you! But ugh, honestly, I still can't find Laura anywhere even after trying that. Looks like I'm stuck with no choice left... time to just reinstall Windows.

Why on earth does this phantom Laura (who basically doesn't even exist anymore) bother you enough to go through the whole hassle of reinstalling Windows?

I had a similar account sitting on my PC for like 5 or 6 years—from the day I first installed Windows until the last time I actually used it 😬—and it never once crossed my mind to wipe everything just because of that. I mean, seriously... you aren't clicking on her, you aren't using her (can't anyway), she isn't taking up any space, and she isn't asking you for anything... so why does this little digital artifact get under your skin so much?

rowdyjackal35 said:This is great, thanks, but I still can't find Laura anywhere. Looks like my only option left is to just reinstall Windows.

You’re definitely doing something wrong somewhere, even if it isn't obvious what.

Anyway, reinstalling Windows just because you can't figure out how to delete a User Account is kind of like having a mouse run into your kitchen and deciding the best way to get rid of it is to level the entire house. Sure, the mouse is gone, but there are probably much easier ways to handle it.

If you're stuck, maybe ask the neighbor's kid for help—they usually know their way around this stuff.

Press Win + R, type regedit, then navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
Find Lana on the list and delete the account profile.

Noah Miller6 said:win key + r, regedit, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SOFTWARE, MICROSOFT, WINDOWS NT, CURRENT VERSION, PROFILE LIST
find Lana on the list and just delete the account

I honestly don't think I'm doing anything wrong. I tried that exact route and couldn't even find that account under PROFILE LIST.

It’s just driving me crazy because I’m such a perfectionist, but mostly because I’ve got two laptops and I really want to sell this one. I figured having a clean Windows 10 install would help the resale value, and I definitely don't want to sell it with some random account showing up on the login screen. It's not like I have any precious files on there or anything, so it's not a huge deal, but still. If I could just get rid of Lana, I'd just make a new User Accounts profile and call it a day without needing a full reinstall, but I'm totally stuck here.

rowdyjackal35 said:I really don't think I'm doing anything wrong here. I've tried everything, including checking the PROFILE LIST, but that account just isn't showing up anywhere.

It’s driving me crazy because I’m a total perfectionist, but honestly, the main reason is that I’m trying to sell this laptop. I figured having Windows 10 installed cleanly would help the resale value, and I definitely don't want some random junk account popping up on the login screen when a buyer turns it on. I don't have any important files on there, so it’s not like I’m losing my life's work or anything. If I could just get rid of Lana, I’d probably just create a new User Accounts profile and call it a day without needing a full reinstall, but I'm totally stuck.

If you're selling it, then yeah, fair enough. If I were in your shoes, I'd just wipe the drive and reinstall Windows from scratch. I'd also probably use a shredder tool to wipe the free space just to be safe.

rowdyjackal35 said:I don't think I'm doing anything wrong here. I tried everything, even checking under PROFILE LIST, and that account just isn't there.

It's driving me crazy because I'm a perfectionist, but mostly because I've got two laptops and I want to flip this one. I figure having Windows 10 installed will help the resale value, and I really don't want to sell it with some random account popping up on the login screen. It's not like I have anything important on there, so it's not like I'm burning down the house or whatever. If I could just get rid of Lana, I'd just make a new User Account and call it a day without needing a full reinstall, but I'm stuck.

Well, you clearly deleted the account since it's gone, but it's still hanging out on the login screen because you did a sloppy job deleting it and left a trace in the history.

Just recreate the exact same user account, then delete it properly using one of the methods mentioned earlier in this thread, and it should finally disappear. 😁

cosmicorca16 I can't even begin to explain how much this matters to me. Seriously. Like, I’m actually shaking a little bit just thinking about it. It feels like everything we've been working toward is finally hitting home. It's crazy, man. Just... wow. Total game changer.
So, obviously you nuked that account, right? Because I can't find it anywhere. It’s only showing up on the login screen because you deleted the user profile on that old laptop, so it’s probably just stuck in some weird system cache or history somewhere.

So, just try creating that same account and user again, then go ahead and delete it using one of those methods listed in this thread. It should vanish completely. 😁

I don't think I even deleted it. I ended up making a duplicate and having two Lauras, so I wiped out the new one... but the old one is still hanging around. Honestly? I'm done. Giving up. 😵

rowdyjackal35 said:I don't think I deleted it. I ended up making a duplicate and having two Lauras, so I wiped the new one, but the old one's still sitting there. I'm over it. 😵

So it didn't just vanish into thin air? One second it's there, then poof, account gone? 😁

Look, I know macOS can be buggy and people deal with all kinds of glitches, but user accounts don't just pull a disappearing act for no reason. Unlikely. 🤣

It’s likely just some corruption within the registry causing this "artifact" to pop up. 😁 For what it's worth, you don't really run into these kinds of headaches in Linux, where the system either recognizes a user or it simply doesn't.