If you accidentally lost your user profile on Windows 10, this may lead to some computer access issues. In this guide, we'll walk you through the effects on losing user profile and several practical methods to restore these user profile on Windows.
Hi guys, do you have any methods to recover deleted User Profile in Windows 10? I accidentally deleted my user profile and all my data, docs, photos, music, videos have disappeared from my laptop running Windows 10. Is it possible to restore the deleted user profile with the lost files on Windows? Please help me! Thanks!
- Question from JohnMiklosh
A user profile on Windows is a personalized digital workspace that stores individual settings, preferences, and data like desktop themes, application configurations, and personal files. The user profile contains all your personal settings, documents, pictures, application preferences, and other important files that you may have worked on for years. Losing a user profile can cause significant inconvenience to computer usage. Here are the issues that may occur.
Although the deletion of a user profile has significant impacts, it doesn't mean they are lost permanently. In this section, we’ll walk you through 5 reliable methods to restore or recover your user profile on Windows 10 and 11.
If you accidentally deleted the user profile by mistake, one of the easiest methods to restore a lost user profile is by using the Previous Versions feature. This built-in Windows feature allows you to restore files or folders to a previous state using backup copies. If you've enabled File History or System Protection on your PC, you may have an earlier backup of your user profile that you can restore.
Step 1. Navigate to the user profile folder (C: \User\YourUserName) in File Explorer.
Step 2. Select the folder and right click to choose "Restore previous versions". Then you will see a list of available versions of the folder.
Step 3. Choose the version you want to restore and click on "Restore".
Wait for the process to complete, and then check your profile folder to see if the missing files have been restored. While this method works in many cases, if you have not created any backups or enabled File History, it might not be effective.
Alternatively, you can also restore your personal files stored in the user profile in Control Panel.
Step 1. Type "Restore your files with File History" in the Start bar and open it.
Step 2. Browse and select the folder you wish to recover, then choose a desired version from the backup date.
Step 3. Click the green "Restore" button to recover the lost files.
Sometimes, your user profile might appear to be lost because Windows can’t recognize its associated security identifier (SID). By manually editing the registry and fixing the SID, you can recover your profile. This is a more advanced method and should be done with care.
Step 1. Type "command prompt" in the Start menu and open it.
Step 2. Enter the command "whoami /user" and press "Enter". The command will display the SID of the current account.
Step 3. Copy and paste the SID into a text editor (e.g., Notepad) for later use.
Step 4. Press "Windows + R", type "regedit", and hit "Enter" to open the Registry Editor.
Step 5. Navigate to the path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
Here you will see the same SID as displayed in the Command Prompt. Usually, the same SID will be listed twice: one ends with ".bak" extension, and the other does not.
Step 6. Edit the SID folder. Due to the different circumstances when user profiles are lost, the folders displayed will generally fall into the following three scenarios. You can choose an appropriate method to recover the deleted user profile in Windows based on your actual situation.
☀️Case 1. The same SID is listed twice: one ends with ".bak" extension, and the other does not.
Select the folder without ".bak" extension, right-click and choose "Delete".
☀️Case 2. The SID is list only once with a ".bak" extension.
Right click the folder with ".bak" extension and select "Rename". Delete ".bak" extension from the end and press "Enter" to save the change.
☀️Case 3. The SID is listed only once without ".bak" extension.
1. Click on the folder with the matching SID.
2. Double click on the "ProfileImagePath" string from the right pane.
3. The "Value Data" may contain the path to the user profile. If there is no such path or the path is incorrect, enter the correct user profile path (C:Users\UserName) and click "OK".
4. Double click the "Sate" string and change its value data to "0", then click on "OK" to save the change.
Then close Registry Editor and restart your computer, you can check the deleted user profile is restored or not.
If you accidentally deleted individual files from the profile folder and want to retrieve them, third-party recovery software like MyRecover can help you retrieve deleted user profile on Windows 10/11. Here are some stunning points of MyRecover.
✅Handle More Data Loss Scenarios: Recover from deleted or formatted partition, emptied Recycle Bin, system crash, virus attack, etc.
✅Covers Most Devices: Recover files from external HDD/internal HDD, SSD, USB flash drive, SD card, game consoles, etc, regardless of the brands.
✅No Command Line Needed: Simple GUI (graphical interface) for easy file recovery.
✅Deep and Quick Scan Modes: quick scans for recently deleted files and deep scans that thoroughly analyze your drive for hard-to-find data, maximizing your chances of recovery.
4 steps to recover deleted user profile on Windows
Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your computer.
Step 2. Launch it and select the profile folder to scan for lost files, click on "Scan".
Step 3. Choose the files you wish to recover from the recoverable lists and click "Recover".
Step 4. Select a safe location to save the recovered files.
When the process is finished, the message "Files have been recovered successfully" will pop up. You can click the path of recovered files to check them.
If you can’t restore your profile using the above methods, another way to recover your lost data is to create a new user account and then replace the missing or corrupted profile with the files from the new account. This method is a bit of a workaround, but it’s effective in cases where you need to recover your files quickly.
Step 1. Go to "Settings > Accounts > Other users".
Step 2. Click "Add someone else to this PC" and follow the prompts to create a new local or Microsoft account.
Step 3. Log into the new account and navigate to C:\Users\OldUsername to access the profile folder of the previous account.
Step 4. Copy the files you need to the new account's profile folder. Once you’ve transferred all files, you can delete the old account and use the new one.
If the above methods don’t work, you may need to consider performing a System Restore. This option allows you to revert your computer to a previous point in time when everything was working fine, including your user profile. If you have created a system restore point, you can follow these steps to recover deleted user profile on Windows.
Step 1. Type "Create a restore point" in the Start menu and open it.
Step 2. Click on "System Restore" under the "System Protection" tab.
Step 3. Select a created system restore point before the user profile is deleted and click "Next".
Step 4. Click "Finish" to start the process.
Losing your user profile on Windows 10 or Windows 11 can be a serious issue, but with the methods outlined above, you have a good chance of recovering your lost data. If you're seeking more comprehensive data protection, MyRecover is worth a try. For advanced needs, MyRecpver's Professional and Technician editions can meet your requirements. They support unlimited data recovery quota and allow previewing file contents before restoration.
