Windows 10: can't remove second phantom user at login

Hi All, I've got a problem I can't wrap my head around. I am giving my laptop to a young person and can't remove a phantom second user that popped up after I supposedly removed all of my info from Windows 10 ver. 2004. I have deleted the laptop from my microsoft account's devices, logged out and created the new user Microsoft account and put the laptop in devices, created a new account on the laptop, made them administrator, rebooted, deleted my account and info with Windows 10 settings, rebooted and at login it tells me there is a problem signing in, I click enter, the login screen comes up and along with the new user and also a mixture of 5 letters in my name "xxxxx" comes up as the primary user which I am having a hard time removing. I have signed the new user in with a pin then made sure they were signed into the laptop, rebooted with the same results, I have tried "administrator command prompt/net users" and I receive just the new user, tried run/lusrmgr.msc/users and I get just one again, tried run/sysdm.cpl/advanced/user profiles and the same. The new user is signed in with a local account. The problem signing in, enter, "xxxxx" and new user happens every time I reboot. Are there any other options available for removal of this this phantom user. Could someone tell me what it is and why it's there.


Thanks

:)

 

How to find phantom user account to delete it

When I turn on the PC every day, the W10 login screen defaults to a 'phantom' login with the correct user name, but lacking a usable password option. Whatever password it wants, I don't have it.

I then click on a second option which is the same correct user name, but is actually my MS account, with my Outlook.com email address, password and PIN. I can then proceed to login. It's my correct Administrator account with all related information running
perfectly.

I cannot find the alternate 'phantom' user account that the computer initially defaults to every day, and which doesn't work. When I search for it, the 'phantom' account doesn't pop up as a Guest or Administrator account under User Accounts, so I can't remove
it. It's in there somewhere, but how to find it?

A fix would be gratefully appreciated, as it adds unnecessary steps every time I logon to my computer.

 

Phantom User

Hi,

Thanks so much for answering me.

I printed out your instructions so that I could be sure to follow them to the letter. The steps actually made my problem worse.

Before the steps when I turned my computer on there would be a scenic pic with just my first name & no user pic. I don't know why this user is there and manage accounts only shows me.

So today, following your steps.

When I got to sign in options, I did not have an option that said sign in with a local account. So I entered my old password and tried just a blank box for new password. That did not work and so I tried my old password again but then was prompted to change
my password so I did. I did type in netplwiz and the phantom user was not listed there so I shut down my computer, waited, started up again to find the same scenic pic with just my first name. I have to click on that to bring up two users in the lower left
hand corner of my screen. One is the phantom and the other is me. So I logged on with my new password, and now I have to log in everywhere, One Drive, (never used), , Windows, Email so somewhere I did something wrong and hope that this reply is not too poorly
worded to make any sense to you.

Thanks,

Mika

 

Phantom Account or extra user account is getting generated in Windows 10 while giving administrative privilege to a user account.

Hi Ron,



Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.



I understand that you are facing issues with Windows 10. I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.

The issue could occur if there is change in user settings.

To assist you better, please provide us the below information:

• Have you made any changes to the computer prior to the issue?
• When you say that "The two accounts, myself and Victor’s, were also there", is the victor's user account a Local Account or Microsoft Account?

Refer to the below steps and check if it helps.

Step 1: I suggest you to try to check for the phantom account by logging in as Administrator account and then try to remove the extra account.

1. Click on Search bar.

2. Then click on "User Accounts" without the quotes in the search bar and click on it.

3. Click on Manage another account.

4. Check if extra account is present or not. Then try to delete it.

Step 2: Try to perform below steps to disable user login screen and to login without entering the user name and password.

1. Click on Search bar.

2. Type "Power Options" without the quotes in the search bar and click on it.

3. Then click on Require a password on a wakeup.

4. Click on Change settings that currently unavailable.

5. Click on Don't require a password.

6. Click on Save changes.

Reply to us with the information, so that we can assist you better.

Let us know if you need any further assistance on Windows related issues and we will be glad to help.