Having multiple user accounts on our computer is quite common, since there are many who share their PC with other family members or roommates. In this way, each will have their own user and can manage their applications and files. In the business environment it is somewhat more frequent, being able to create several user accounts on the same computer that over time may not be used. The ideal in this case is to eliminate all those Windows 10 user accounts that are no longer used . Therefore, we are going to show you step by step how we can do it.
Taking into account that this option is designed especially for the business environment, depending on the edition that we have installed of Windows 10 we will be able to delete old user accounts automatically or on the contrary we will have to do it manually .
Managing a computer with multiple user accounts can be quite complicated, especially when more and more user accounts are added to that computer. In this case, the ideal is to always keep all those accounts that are being used on the computer properly configured and eliminate all those that are no longer used. If we are using Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise on that computer, then it is something that we will be able to do automatically.
Automatically delete user accounts
If we have one of these two editions of the Microsoft operating system on the computer, we can automatically delete the old user accounts thanks to the group policy editor of Windows 10 by following the steps shown below:
- We open a Run window, Win + R.
- We write gpedit.msc and press Enter or OK.
- In the group policy editor we display the Team configuration option .
- We enter Administrative templates .
- Next in System .
- And finally in User Profiles .
- There we look for the policy that controls this automated operation, ” Delete user profiles older than the specified number of days when restarting the system .”
- We double click on it to access its settings.
- We enable the directive.
- In Options we can indicate how many days of inactivity supposes the elimination of said account.
From that moment on, every day that we turn on the computer, the system itself will check if any of the Windows 10 user accounts have been idle for some time, and if so, it will proceed with their removal automatically. Therefore, it is a function that allows us to forget about doing this task manually.
Delete user accounts in Windows 10 manually
If instead we have the Home edition of Windows 10, then we will not have access to the group policy editor. This means that we will not be able to use the above mentioned directive to delete old user accounts automatically and we will have to do it manually.
- We open the Control Panel of Windows 10
- We select the User Accounts option.
- We click on the option Manage another account.
- We search for the user account that we want to delete and click on it.
- Click on the option Delete account .
- The system will ask us if we want to delete the files of that user account or if, on the contrary, we want to keep them.
- We choose the corresponding option and the system will proceed to eliminate said user account.
We will have to repeat this process for each of the user accounts that we want to remove from the system.