Deleting a User Account

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated August 10, 2015)

It is not unusual for a single Windows 7 computer to be used by multiple people. Normally each user has their own user account defined on the computer. At some point you may need to get rid of a user account. For instance, it could be that a user no longer works at your company or perhaps the user simply no longer uses your computer.

You can get rid of an existing user account (as long as you have administrator privileges) by following these steps:

  1. Click Start and then click Control Panel. Windows 7 displays the Control Panel.
  2. At the right side of the screen, under the main heading of User Accounts and Family Safety, click Add or Remove User Accounts. Windows 7 displays the Manage Accounts screen.
  3. Click the account you want to delete. Windows 7 displays the Change an Account screen. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Change an Account screen.

  4. At the left side of the screen click Delete the Account. Windows 7 asks if you want to keep the files and settings associated with the account.
  5. Click either Delete Files or Keep Files, depending on your preference. Regardless of which button you click on, Windows 7 asks you to confirm that you really want to delete the account.
  6. Click Delete Account.

 This tip (10714) applies to Windows 7.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He  is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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