How to delete a Windows or macOS user account

If many people use a computer, it may have multiple user accounts. Sometimes, you must clean up the user accounts and delete those that are unused or unwanted. To learn how to delete a user account on a Mac or Windows-based PC, select your operating system from the following list for instructions.

Windows 11

1. Press the Windows key, type Control Panel, and press Enter.
2. Under the User Accounts section, click User Accounts.

3. Click the Remove user accounts link.

4. Select the user account you want to delete.
5. On the Change an Account screen, click Delete the account.

6. In the Delete Account window, to keep any files associated with the user account, click Keep Files. To remove all files associated with the user account, click Delete Files.
7. Click Delete Account to confirm user account deletion.

Windows 8 and 10

1. Press the Windows key, type Control Panel, and press Enter.
2. Under the User Accounts section, click User Accounts.

3. Click the Remove user accounts link.

4. Select the user account you want to delete.
5. On the Change an Account screen, click Delete the account.

6. To keep any files associated with the user account, click Keep Files. To remove all files associated with the user account, click Delete Files.
7. Click Delete Account to confirm user account deletion.

Windows Vista and 7

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Click the User Accounts option.
3. Click User Accounts again, then the Manage User Accounts option.
4. On the Users tab, find the user account you want to delete under the Users for this computer section. Click that user account name.
5. Click the Delete this account option on the left side of the window.
6. To keep any files associated with the user account, click Keep Files. To remove all files associated with the user account, click Delete Files.
7. Click Delete Account to confirm user account deletion.

Windows XP

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Double-click the User Accounts option.
3. Click the user account name you want to delete.
4. Click the Delete the account option.
5. To keep any files associated with the user account, click Keep Files. To remove all files associated with the user account, click Delete Files.

Windows Command Prompt

1. Open Windows Command Prompt with elevated permissions.

• How do I open an elevated Command Prompt?

2. At the command line, type net user /delete <username>, where <username> is the name of the user account you want to delete.
   
   For example, to delete a user account named myaccount, type the following command.

net user /delete myaccount

macOS

This section contains information on how to delete a user account from an Apple computer, such as a MacBook or iMac.

1. At the top-left corner of the desktop screen, click the Apple icon.
2. Select System Settings from the Apple menu.

3. In the left section, scroll down and click the Users & Groups selector.

4. In the right section, click the information icon next to the account you want to remove.

5. In the account's window, click the Delete User button.

6. Use the radio buttons to choose to keep the home folder associated with the user and where (A), and click the Delete User button (B).