How to Change User Account Name in Windows 11

Published by Nyau Wai Hoe - Updated on

This is a guide on how to change your user account name that appears on Welcome screen and on the Start screen in Windows 11. The ways to change your username depends on what type of user account you have – whether you are signing into Windows using a Microsoft Account (online) or a local account.

However, you can use the same methods to change the account name for Administrator or Guest user account, provided you have the privilege required to do so.

How to change the user name for a local account

If your user account in Windows 11 is a local account that doesn’t link to any Microsoft account, you can easily change the account name via one of the 3 methods below.

You can use any of the 3 methods below to change the user name for an Administrator, Standard or Guest account. However, you must be signed in as an administrator in order to have the privilege required to change the username of any account on Windows 11.

Change account name via Control Panel

  1. On Windows 11, go to Start. Search for and open “Control Panel“.Open control panel Windows 11
  2. In the Control Panel window, click on User Accounts.User accounts control panel Windows 11
  3. On the next screen, click on User Accounts again.
  4. Under “Make changes to your user account”, click on Change your account name.Change account name via Control Panel Windows 11
  5. Enter a new account name into the text field.
  6. Click on Change Name when you’re done.How to Change User Account Name in Windows 11
  7. Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

If you want to change the user name of a different account, click on Manage another account instead during step 4. Then, select the user account whose name you want to change and follow the remaining steps to do so.

Note: If you don’t see the “Change your account name” option during step 4, it likely means that your user account is a Microsoft account. Go to the second part of this guide below to learn how to change your Microsoft account’s username.

Rename a user via Netplwiz

Another method to change the user account name in Windows 11 is by using the Netplwiz.exe – an advanced user accounts control panel in Windows.

  1. Click on Start, then search for and open “netplwiz“.Open netplwiz Windows 11
  2. In the User Accounts window, go to Users tab.
  3. Under “Users for this computer”, select the user account whose name you want to change.
  4. Then, click on Properties.Rename user Netplwiz Windows 11
  5. In the General tab, enter a new name in the User name field.Change user name for local account W‌indows 11
  6. Click OK when you’re done.
  7. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Change Windows user name using Command Prompt

If for any reason you can only use the command prompt to do the changes, here’s the command lines to change the user account name in Windows.

  1. In the Start menu, search for Command Prompt.
  2. Right-click Command Prompt from the search result and select Run as administrator.Run command prompt as administrator Windows 11
  3. Optionally, you can run the command below first to list all user accounts on your Windows. This is to show the exact username of the user account (whose name you want to change) as you will need it for the next step.
    wmic useraccount get name

    List all user accounts Windows 11 command prompt

  4. Next, enter the following command to rename any user account. Replace OldAccountName with the current username of the user account, and NewAccountName with the new name you wish to use.
    wmic user account where name="OldAccountName" rename "NewAccountName"

    Change Windows 11 user account name Command Prompt

  5. If the command is executed successfully, it will show a line that reads “Method execution successful“.
  6. Restart your PC.

Note that you need to run Command Prompt as administrator so that it has the required permission to make changes to the user account in Windows.

How to change Microsoft account username

If you login to Windows 11 using a Microsoft account (commonly showing your full name as the user name), your user account name can only be changed via the Microsoft account’s profile page in Microsoft website. Here’s how to do so.

  1. Press Win + i keys to open Settings.
  2. On the left pane, select Accounts. Then, on the right, select Your info.Your accounts info in Windows 11 Settings
  3. On the next screen, click on “Accounts – Manage my accounts” under Related settings.Manage my accounts Windows 11
  4. This will open your profile page on Microsoft website on your default web browser. Click on Your info at the top menu bar in the Microsoft account’s profile page.Microsoft account profile page Your info
  5. Next, under Your info, click on Edit name.How to change Microsoft account username Windows 11
  6. Enter the new name you wish to use in the First and Last name fields. Then, enter the Captcha as requested.How to edit Microsoft account username Windows 11
  7. Click Save to save the changes.
  8. Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Nyau Wai Hoe
Nyau Wai Hoe is the Founder and Chief Editor of WindowsDigitals.com. With a degree in software engineering and over 12 years of experience in the tech support industry, Nyau has established himself as an expert in the field, with a primary focus on the Microsoft Windows operating system. As a tech enthusiast, he loves exploring new technologies and leveraging them to solve real-life problems.

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