Windows 10: Deleted User but Cannot Remove Profile Folder

I have Windows 10 Home.


I deleted a user profile via control panel and said YES to remove the folders & files.

Windows 10 removed the user, but the profile folder (c:\user\Joe) remains.


I tried everything I could find (including changing owner, changing permissions, etc) on the folder and I could not delete the contents (which is taking up a gig or so of space that I need)


So I created a new user with same name.

Windows gave this 2nd user profile a different (longer) name (c:\users\Joe.Desktop.[numbers]), so no change to the permissions from the original profile (c:\users\joe).


So, I again used control panel to delete this 2nd profile, and again said yes to delete all related files & folders when the profile was deleted. And - again - Windows deleted the user profile but kept all of the folders in c:\users.


So - now I have TWO folders (C:\users\joe and c:\users\joe.desktop.xxxx) that I cannot get rid of.

Whenever I try I get the you need administrator permission, and then when I select continue, it acts like it will delete and then says I don't have permission. My options are only "try again" or "cancel".


What do I have to do to delete the user profile folders and related files? I need the disc space!


And why on earth does deleting a user not also delete the related folders? Seems like a no brainer.

:)

 

Trouble deleting a folder

Thanks for the suggestion but it says "delete folder failed for E:\....." for each folder I try.

*Confused

Will I be forever stuck with these unnecessary folders? *Oh Well hwell:

 

Removing a "hidden" user and user files

Thanks for your patience. I was able with "Net User" to remove the left over user. It no longer appears when I invoke Net User.

Now for the user's folder which remains behind. After performing the series of steps that you suggested, I attempted to delete this folder. The result again was an error message about permission


"Administrators" appears on the list in the list of advanced security.

 

How to completely delete the files and folders of the corrupted profile and rename the same user profile name in the newly created user profile in Windows 10?

Hello Ian,



Thank you for posting on Microsoft Community. We will assist you in resolving the issue.



Method 1: You can delete the files and folders from the corrupted user from
File explorer by following the steps below:

• 
  Press Windows logo + E keys on the keyboard to open
  File explorer.
  
• 
  Click on This PC located at the left side panel of the window to open the drives of the PC.
  
• 
  Go to users folder by opening the
  C: drive.
  
• 
  From users folder, locate the user folder you want to delete and
  press Shift + Delete keys on the keyboard.
  
• 
  After the process is complete, close the window and check if the files and folders are deleted.
  

Method 2: I suggest you to refer to the suggestion by
Annu Singh from the link below to rename the user profile and check if it helps.

Rename User Account Folder in Windows 10 Preview



Write back to us with the status of the issue on the same post for further assistance. Your reply is most important for us to ensure we assist you accordingly.



Thank you.