Top Two Ways to Recover Deleted User Profile in Windows 10

The case: I accidentally deleted my user profile

“About 2 days ago, I removed files which I no longer use from my computer. I emptied the user profiles’ folder but find that my user profiles have disappeared. It is possible to be recovered?”

How to recover deleted user profile in Windows 10?

In some cases, we may delete user profile by mistake. However, deleting user profile may result in loss of files and some personal settings in Windows PC. If you are being troubled by this problem: How to restore a deleted user profile in windows 10? You can try following methods. If you are Windows 7 user, you can read this article to learn the method.

▶ Method 1: Manually recover deleted user profile

Part 1. Find out your security identifier

1. Open Command Prompt in administrator authority.

2. Type: “whoami /user” and hit Enter, then, you can see the SID of the current account.

Part 2. Edit the Registry

1. Type: “regedit” in the Search box and hit Enter to load Registry Editor.

2. Click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SOFTWARE>Microsoft>Windows NT>CurrentVersion>ProfileList one by one on the left-hand pane. Then you will see a list of SIDs within the ProfileList folder.

Part 3. Recover deleted user profile in Windows 10

You can choose one of the below-offered options to finish the recovery process in Windows 10.

Option 1: Delete Duplicate Folder

If the SID is listed twice, you can delete the folder without the .BAK extension.

1. Right-click the folder from the left-hand pane and click Delete.

2. Click Yes to confirm.

Option 2. Rename.BAK folder

1. Right-click the folder matching your SID with the .BAK extension.

2. Click Rename, and remove .BAK from the end of it. Press Enter to save the changes.

Option 3. Adjust the Folder path and state

1. Click the folder on the left-hand pane that matches your SID.

2. Double-click ProfileImagePath on the right pane, input the correct path for your user profile in Value Data.

Note: If you’re not sure what the correct path is, press Windows key + R to open Run, type C:\Users, and press Enter. You will see your user profiles like the following picture.

3. Double-click State on the right-hand registry pane, change the Value data to 0 and click OK.

Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer. Sign back into your user account and you should find that everything back to normal.

▶ Method 2: Recover user profile with a backup

If you have made a backup with File History, you can follow the guidance below to recover deleted files.

1. Type “file history” in the search box on taskbar.

2. Select Restore your files with File History from the search results.

3. In the pop-up window, choose the folder (C:\Users\ folder) that user profile usually located in.

4. There may be different versions of this item. Find the version you’d like to restore.

5. Click the Restore button to restore your desired version.

Note: If Windows notices a naming conflict with the item you’re trying to restore, you should choose how to handle the conflict—Replace the File in the Destination Folder, Skip This File, or Compare Info for Both Files.

6. Close the File History

Do regular backup with a professional backup software

Obviously, if we made a backup in advance, we can restore the file directly. However, File History has some disadvantages. For example, it can’t back up the entire system, and it does not support backup long path files. A professional third-party software like AOMEI Backupper Standard is a better choice.

AOMEI Backupper Standard is a free backup software. It not only can back up files, but also can back up entire system with system backup function. In addition, you can backup files as needed, even for long-path files.

It also has the functions of incremental backup and differential backup that can save time and storage space for you. And there are more advanced features like Backup scheme, Universal restore and so on if you upgrade to Professional version.

You can refer to the following steps to do regular file backup.

1. Download AOMEI Backupper Standard, install and launch it.

2. Click "File Backup" under the "Backup" tab.

3. Click Add File or Add Folder according to your needs.

4. Select a destination path. You can choose to back up to NAS, internal hard drive, external storage device, or cloud storage device.

5. Click Start Backup to execute the task.

Conclusion

Obviously, if we had made a backup in advance, it is very simple to recover the deleted user profile. AOMEI Backupper Standard is a good choice for you to do regular backup. But this version does not support the Server system, if you are a Windows Server user, AOMEI Backupper Server can meet your needs.