Over time, shared or family PCs can accumulate old user accounts — ex-family members, previous owners, or accounts from people who no longer use the computer. Removing these cleanly keeps the PC tidy and protects everyone's privacy.

Who Can Remove an Account?

Only an administrator account can remove other user accounts. If you're the main user of the PC, you likely already have admin rights. If not, you'll need to ask someone who does.

Remove an Account in Windows 11

  1. Open Settings (Windows + I) and go to Accounts > Other users.
  2. Find the account you want to remove and click on it to expand the options.
  3. Click Remove.
  4. Windows will warn you that removing the account will delete all of that user's files, desktop items, and settings stored locally on this PC. Confirm by clicking Delete account and data.

Important: This only removes the account from this specific PC. It does not delete the person's Microsoft account or any files they've backed up to OneDrive. Their Microsoft account still exists online.

Before You Remove

  • Make sure the person whose account you're removing has copied any files they want to keep to their own storage (USB drive, OneDrive, etc.).
  • If you're preparing a PC to sell or give away, consider doing a full Windows reset instead — go to Settings > System > Recovery > Reset this PC and choose Remove everything. This wipes all accounts and personal data cleanly.

Removing Your Own Microsoft Account from a PC

If you want to remove your own Microsoft account from a PC you no longer use (for example, before giving it away), first switch to a local account (see our guide on switching account types), then do the reset described above.

Have questions about which option is right for your situation? Ask us.