How to Manually Remove a User Profile in Windows 11 (When Delete is Greyed Out)

🧹 How to Manually Remove a User Profile in Windows 11 (When Delete is Greyed Out)

📌 Issue

The “Delete” button under System Properties > User Profiles is greyed out, preventing removal of a user profile—even with admin rights.

🧭 Cause

This usually happens when:

• The user is logged in or their registry hive is still loaded.
• Background apps (like OneDrive, Teams, or antivirus agents) are locking files.
• It's a built-in/system profile (e.g., Default, Public, Administrator).
• The profile was partially removed but not fully cleaned up.

🛠️ Resolution: Manual Profile Deletion

🧪 Prerequisites

• You must be logged in as a different administrator than the account being removed.
• The target profile must not be in use.

Step 1: Unload the Registry Hive (if loaded)

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to HKEY_USERS.
3. If you see a SID (e.g., S-1-5-21-...) still loaded that corresponds to the profile, right-click and choose Unload.

Step 2: Remove the Profile Entry from the Registry

1. Still in regedit, go to:



HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList



2. Click each SID and check the ProfileImagePath to identify the target user.
3. Right-click the correct SID and select Delete.

Step 3: Delete the User Folder

1. Open File Explorer and go to:



C:\Users



2. Locate and manually delete the user’s profile folder (e.g., C:\Users\jdoe).

Optional: Use PowerShell (Alternative Method)

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_UserProfile | Where-Object { $_.LocalPath -like "C:\Users\jdoe" } | Remove-CimInstance -Confirm:$false

Replace jdoe with the actual username.

✅ Final Notes

• Do not attempt this while logged into the target profile.
• If any files are locked, reboot into Safe Mode and repeat the steps.
• After deletion, verify the user is removed from the login screen and that net user no longer lists the account.