"We can't sign in to your account" error message

Hello, this is Emily.

The problem here is that you changed your username folder. This has resulted your user profile path being corrupted, thus Windows cannot sign into the user profile and created you a temp user profile to use for now.


Can you launch your File Explorer, go to C: drive > Users > Your username folder. Then go to Desktop, or Documents, etc to verify if you can see your personal files there. If so, I suggest that you copy them out to an external drive, such as flash drive.

After you have your data secured, can you see if this temp user profile allows you to create a new admin local user.

Hold down Windows + R keys, type in netplwiz and hit enter. Then click on "Add". Choose the option at the bottom that doesn't require a Microsoft Account, and set it up as a local user. Once created, double click on the user and go to group membership tab, make it admin. Restart the computer, and let me know if you can sign into this new admin local user.

There's a chance you may not be able to create it at all. Either way, please let me know how it goes and I will work with you next depending on how this step goes.

I did that but didn't work.

Ok Mohamed, as I said, it may or may not work as not all temp user profile had admin right to create this new user, but I wouldn't know until I had you try it first. So this confirms that yours doesn't have admin right.

In this case, I am afraid you will need to backup your data as I have already suggested above. Then consider a reset.

After you have your data all secured, please hold down the Shift key while you select the Restart option. That should pull up the WinRe environment. Choose Troubleshoot >Reset this PC.

Never mind it already been fixed.

Great to hear.

But I wasn't able to change my user name without getting this error message.

I thought you said it was already fixed?

What step are you on right now? Are you using Windows home or pro edition?

I said when I changed back to the original name it is fixed but I want to rename my name in the laptop.

I see.

Because this username is being referenced in a lot of places including registry, to maintain your user profile integrity, it is best that you create a new user instead, and then migrate your Microsoft account (if you have it linked) and data over.

Here are the steps:

1. Type netplwiz in the search on the taskbar and hit enter. When launched, click on "Add". On the next window, click on the bottom where it says to create an account without Microsoft email. This will allow you to define your own username. Make sure it doesn't contain space or special character. Set it up as a local user.

2. When the above user is created, back to the main netplwiz page, double click on this new user, go to the Group Membership tab, make it administrator. Save the change.

3. Go to Windows Settings > Accounts > Your Info. Click on "Sign in as a local user instead". Follow the steps to finish the rest. This will release the association of your Microsoft email to this Windows log in.

4. Restart the computer. Sign into the new user you created in Step 1.

5. Go to Windows Settings > Accounts > Your Info. Click on "Sign in with your Microsoft account". You can then use the same email address you released on Step 3. This will tie your Microsoft email address now to this new Windows log in.

6. If you have data at the old username folder, go to C:\users\old username folder, find them and copy them into C:\users\new username folder.

7. Type sysdm.cpl in the search on the taskbar and hit enter, go to Advanced tab, click on the "Settings" button at the User Profile section. Then delete the old user profile.

8. Launch netplwiz again, delete the old user from there.