SOLVED Change user/account name

[Mark Pines]

Hi. I cannot change this account name in Windows 10. I find it in the registry and delete the keys but the name comes back when I reboot. The names refers to a closed Gmail account. I have been able to change the user name but the account name just won't change. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ian]

You may need to log in to your Microsoft account and update the e-mail address that is used. It doesn't matter if your gmail account doesn't exist anymore, as your Microsoft account used to login still thinks it is active.

If you click the "Manage my Microsoft account" button, you should be able to update it from there. Here's some more info on it:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/12407/microsoft-account-change-email-phone-number

 

[Mark Pines]

Ian: Thanks for the reply but when I follow your suggestion, I get:

"That Microsoft account (email1[at]gmail.com) doesn't exist. Enter a different account or get a new one. "

If I try to re-create that account, I get:

email1[at]gmail.com
You may already have an account
email1[at]gmail.com is already being used with another Microsoft account. You should sign in with that account.

If I try to create the account anyway, it sends a verification email to the closed account and I'm stuck again.

When I sign in with my main Microsoft account: email2[at]gmail.com, I can't find any indication that my account is "using" the closed account of email1[at]gmail.com.

If I try to change the account to a local account, I get an error message that the account cannot be changed with an error code of 0x80004005.

One thing I don't understand is how the MicrosoftAccount:user in Windows Credentials keeps showing user=email1[at]gmail even when I try to change or delete it. It seems to fill in again at reboot. I assume it is coming from the registry.

 

[Ian]

If you try to recover the Microsoft account details with the old e-mail address, does it let you proceed?:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17875/microsoft-account-recover

BTW, I removed the e-mail addresses that were posted as text, to prevent you from getting spammed.

If you've got a 2nd Microsoft account, is it possible to add that as a 2nd user on your PC, then just remove the old Microsoft account that you are having problems with (rather then just trying to change the name)? You'll need to backup your user data first.

 

[Mark Pines]

Thank you. I just spent 1.5 hours on with Microsoft Support. All they could do was create a new user, copy over folders, files and applications and then delete the old user with the bad, closed email address and account name. The nuclear option! Thanks for taking out my email address...the spammers would have gotten a lot of bounce backs from the old address! Thanks, again, Ian.