Delete a local user account

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To delete a local user account

  1. Open Computer Management.

  2. In the console tree, click Users.

    Where?

    • Computer Management/System Tools/Local Users and Groups/Users
  3. Right-click the user account that you want to delete, and then click Delete.

Notes

  • To perform this procedure, you must be the member of the Power Users group who created the account or a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.

  • To open Computer Management, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.

  • When you need to delete a user account, it is recommended that you first disable the account. When you are certain that disabling the account has not caused a problem, you can safely delete it.

  • A deleted user account cannot be recovered.

  • The Administrator and Guest account cannot be deleted.

Information about functional differences

  • Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.

See Also

Concepts

Local user accounts
Delete a local user account
Disable or activate a local user account