How to Change Administrator Name in Windows 11 Without Microsoft Account

Changing the Administrator name can give us a sense of personalness, but many of us don’t know how to do that. Therefore, if you are struggling to find an option for changing the administrator name in Windows 11 without using a Microsoft account, this article will serve as a guide.

Whether you’ve inherited a PC with someone else’s name plastered all over it, want to personalize your local admin account, or prefer more privacy-focused local accounts over Microsoft’s cloud-linked ones, there are multiple ways to have a custom local account username. Let’s explore all the available methods on Windows 11 or 10.

Why You Might Want to Change the Administrator Name (Without Microsoft Account)

Let’s be real — there are plenty of good reasons to rename that admin account. Perhaps you purchased a used laptop, and “Dave’s PC” isn’t exactly your style. Or maybe you’re setting up multiple admin accounts for your small business and need clear naming conventions. I’ve even seen folks rename the default “Administrator” account for security reasons (hackers always try that one first).

The benefits are pretty straightforward:

• Better organization when you’ve got multiple users
• Enhanced security since you’re not using predictable default names
• Personal touch that makes the PC truly yours

But here’s the catch — and it’s something that trips up a lot of people. When you change the display name of your local administrator account, Windows does not automatically rename everything associated with it. Your user profile folder is sitting in C:\Users\OldName . Yeah, that stays put.

This distinction between your display name (what appears on the login screen), your actual username (what Windows uses internally), and your profile folder name is crucial to understanding before we proceed.

Pre-check & Prerequisites

Before we begin, let’s ensure you’re fully prepared to proceed. Trust me, spending two minutes on these checks now saves headaches later.

Checklist	Why it matters
Logged in as admin	Only admins can rename other accounts or grant privileges
Account is local	Microsoft accounts follow a completely different process
Data backed up	Renaming can occasionally affect shortcuts or linked files

First things first — confirm you’re using a local administrator account. Head to Settings > Accounts > Your info. If you see an email address under your name that is associated with a Microsoft account, this guide won’t work for you. Local accounts display your name without an email address.

If you want to convert your existing Windows 11 Admin account, logged in with a Microsoft account, to a Local account, click on the link provided: “Sign in with a local account instead” in the Your Info section.

I’d also recommend creating a system restore point. Will you need it? Probably not. But Windows can be finicky, and it’s better to have that safety net.

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Method 1: Change the Administrator Display Name (Local Account)

Alright, so in this tutorial, I am assuming that you are using a local Account on your Windows without a Microsoft Account; so to change the username or display name, there are multiple ways because, well, Windows 11 comes in different flavors (Home, Pro, Enterprise), and not all tools are available in every edition.

Method 1: Using Netplwiz (Works on All Editions)

This is my go-to method because it works on every Windows 11 version, including Home:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog
2. Type netplwiz and hit Enter

2. Select the user account you want to rename
3. Click Properties

4. In the Full name field, type your new administrator’s name. You can also change the Username of the selected Admin account, if you wish.
5. Click OK, then OK again.
6. Sign out and back in to see the changes.

That’s it! The beauty of Netplwiz is its simplicity — it has no fancy features, yet it gets the job done.

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Method 2: Local Users and Groups (Pro/Enterprise Only)

If you’re running Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise, you’ve got access to a more powerful tool:

1. Press Win + R to get the Run box
2. Type lusrmgr.msc and press Enter. This will open the Local Users and Groups settings on Windows 11

3. Click on Users in the left panel
4. Double-click the account you want to rename
5. In the General tab, change the Full name field
6. Click OK and restart your PC
7. Extra tip: You can also change the username (if required) by right–clicking on the user and selecting the “rename‘ option

This method gives you more control over user properties, but Home edition users are out of luck here.

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Method 3: Control Panel (The Classic Way)

Sometimes the old ways are the best, i.e., using the Control Panel, which does not work on previous Windows versions. However, even today, for Windows 10 and 11, the best part is that most of us are already familiar with it.

1. Search for “Control Panel” in the Windows 11 or 10 Start menu.
2. Navigate to User Accounts and click it. You see the User Accounts option again, select it again.

3. Click the “Change your account name” option that appears there.

4. Enter the new name for your current Administrator account.
5. Click the “Change Name” button, and the change will take effect immediately.

Simple, visual, and this method has been working this way since Windows XP days.

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Method 4: Command Line Methods: PowerShell and Command Prompt

Using PowerShell (Works on All Editions)

For those familiar with the command line, PowerShell is a snipper way to go when GUI tools aren’t cooperating. Additionally, it’s convenient if you’re managing multiple PCs or prefer the command-line efficiency.

1. Right-click the Start button and select Windows Terminal (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin)
2. To view all user accounts first, type:

Get-LocalUser

3. To rename the administrator account, use:

Rename-LocalUser -Name "CurrentAdminName" -NewName "NewAdminName"

4. Press Enter and you’re done!

For example, if you want to rename “Administrator” to “PCAdmin“, you’d type:

Rename-LocalUser -Name "How2shout" -NewName "h2smedia"

Pro tip: If the account name has spaces, wrap it in quotes. I learned this the hard way when trying to rename “John Admin” — the command kept failing until I added those quotation marks.

To confirm the changes, you can list the accounts again on PowerShell using this command, and you will see the new name instead of the old one for your Admin account.

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For Command Prompt:

If you prefer not to use PowerShell, the classic Command Prompt can also be used. It uses the WMIC (Windows Management Instrumentation Command) tool. Although you can also use the PowerShell command we discussed earlier, if you are using a Windows system that doesn’t support PowerShell, using WMIC is a viable alternative.

1. Right-click Start and select Terminal (Admin). Click the Arrow icon on the Tab and select Command Prompt. Alternatively, you can also use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+2.

2. To list the user type this command:

wmic useraccount get name,sid,status

3. To change the Admin account name using WMIC, the command will be like this:

wmic useraccount where name="CurrentAdminName" rename "NewAdminName"

4. Press Enter

For instance:

wmic useraccount where name="Administrator" rename "TechAdmin"

You should see a message saying “Method execution successful” with some return values. Don’t worry about the technical output — if you see “ReturnValue = 0”, it worked!

Alternative Command Prompt Method:

There’s also the net user command, though it’s a bit more limited:

net user "CurrentAdminName" /fullname:"New Display Name"

This one’s interesting because it only changes the full name (display name), not the actual account name. It’s perfect when you want to keep the login name the same but change what appears on screen.

Verifying Your Changes via Command Line

After running any of these commands, you can verify the change worked:

In PowerShell:

Get-LocalUser | Select-Object Name, FullName

In Command Prompt:

net user

This displays all accounts and their current names, allowing you to confirm that your rename was successful without needing to log out.

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Quick Troubleshooting for Command Line Methods

If you’re getting “Access Denied” errors, double-check you’re running as administrator. That little shield icon next to Terminal or PowerShell? Yeah, you need that.

Sometimes, PowerShell might complain about execution policies. If that happens, run this first:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

And remember — these command line methods still won’t rename that C:\Users\ folder. That’s a Windows thing, not a limitation of the commands.

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Rename the Built-in “Administrator” Account using Computer Management.

Apart from the command-line way and other methods we discussed, there is one more to consider: the hidden built-in Administrator account (the one that’s disabled by default). Things work a bit differently with this account. It requires Computer Management:

1. Right-click the Start button
2. Select Computer Management
3. Navigate to System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users
4. Right-click on “Administrator“
5. Choose Rename
6. Type the new name and press Enter

Please note that this feature is not supported on Windows 11 Home, as it does not include the Local Users and Groups interface. You’d need to use command-line tools instead.

After Change: What to Check & What Might Not Change

Once you’ve renamed the account, here’s what you should verify:

What WILL change:

• The name on your sign-in screen
• Your name in the Start Menu
• Display in Settings > Accounts > Your info
• How you appear to other users on the network

What WON’T change:

• Your profile folder path (C:\Users\OldName stays the same)
• Registry entries pointing to the old path
• Some application settings are tied to the folder name

The profile folder name is particularly stubborn. If you absolutely need to change it, you need to look at registry edits or creating a new account entirely — definitely not for the faint of heart.

FAQs / Troubleshooting

There you have it — changing your administrator name in Windows 11 without a Microsoft account really isn’t that complicated once you know where to look. Whether you used netplwiz, Local Users and Groups, or good old Control Panel, your local admin account should now sport its shiny new name.

Remember, we’re only changing the display name here, not the underlying folder structure. For most users, that’s perfectly fine. The important thing is you’ve personalized your PC and potentially improved its security in the process.