To change your info in Windows 10, select Start > Settings > Accounts > Your info. From that page you can change your account picture and switch between a local account and a Microsoft account. The name of a Microsoft account is changed online: sign in to your Microsoft account, open Your info, select Edit name, and then select Save.
Applies to: Windows 10.
Before you start: find out which account type you have
What you can change, and where, depends on the kind of account you sign in with. A Microsoft account is tied to an email address and keeps its name online, so a change follows you to every device and Microsoft service that uses it. A local account exists only on this one PC.
The Your info page tells you which one you have by the switch link it offers. Sign in with a Microsoft account instead is only visible when you are using a local account, and Sign in with a local account instead is only visible when you are using a Microsoft account.
Open Your info and change your account picture
- Select Start, and then select Settings. The Settings window opens.
- Select Accounts. Windows opens the account pages.
- Select Your info. You see your current picture, your account name, and one of the two switch links described above.
- To use a picture that is already on the PC, select Choose a file and browse to the photo. To take a new one with the PC’s camera, select Open camera.
- Check the result. The new picture replaces the old one at the top of the Your info page.
Because the same instructions cover Windows 10 and Windows 11, the wording of a button on your screen can differ slightly from the labels above. Look for the two picture options, one that browses for a file and one that uses the camera.
Windows remembers the last three pictures you have used, and you can switch back to one of them on the Your info page.
Change the name on a Microsoft account
If you sign in to Windows with a Microsoft account, the name shown on the PC comes from that online account, so you change it on Microsoft’s website and not in Settings.
- Sign in to your Microsoft account in a web browser and go to Your info.
- Select Edit name. The edit name screen opens.
- Type the name you want, enter the Captcha characters, and select Save.
A name change may take up to 24 hours to update everywhere, so the old name can still appear on the PC for a while. Changing this display name does not change your Xbox gamertag. Stick to ordinary letters: non-standard font characters, such as those from Wingdings, are not supported in a name and may prevent sign-in. The full procedure is on Microsoft’s page about changing your user account name.
The same Your info page online is where you update an address. Select Billing & shipping addresses, make your changes, and select Save. A new billing address is applied only to new purchases; past purchases and active subscriptions keep showing the previous one.
Change the name on a local account
A local account’s name is stored on the PC, so signing in to a website will not change it. Microsoft’s article linked above has a separate Local account tab for this case, and a Work/school account tab for accounts provided by an employer or school. Open the tab that matches your account and follow the steps listed there. The Control Panel route for a local account is explained in detail in changing the sign-in name in Windows 10.
Switch between a local account and a Microsoft account
Switching changes how you sign in to this PC. Save your work first, because both directions end with you signing out.
From a local account to a Microsoft account
- Go to Start > Settings > Accounts > Your info.
- Select Sign in with a Microsoft account instead.
- Follow the prompts to sign in with your Microsoft account.
- Select Next, then Sign out and finish, and sign back in. The next time you sign in, the account you switched to is shown.
From a Microsoft account to a local account
Staying on a Microsoft account is recommended for its security features and for syncing across devices. If you still want a local account, create a password reset disk, because a forgotten password could otherwise lock you out permanently.
- Go to Start > Settings > Accounts > Your info.
- Select Sign in with a local account instead.
- Enter a user name, a password, and a password hint. The user name must be different from every other user name on the device.
- Select Next, then Sign out and finish, and sign back in with the new local account.
Both procedures also appear on Microsoft’s page about changing from a local account to a Microsoft account in Windows. To undo a switch, run the opposite procedure.
Confirm the change, or remove an old picture
Return to Settings > Accounts > Your info. The page should show the new picture, the current name, and the switch link for the account type you are now using.
To delete account pictures you no longer want, open File Explorer and go to C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\AccountPictures, replacing yourname with your account name, and delete the pictures there. AppData is a hidden folder, so if you cannot see it, turn on the display of hidden items in File Explorer’s View options.
Changing your info does not rename your user folder
A new display name does not rename the existing profile folder under C:\Users. Do not rename that folder by hand to make it match, because apps and Windows components can depend on its existing path.
Troubleshooting
- The new name has not appeared. For a Microsoft account, allow up to 24 hours. Signing out of Windows and back in gives the PC a chance to pick up the change.
- You only see one switch link. That is expected. Each link is shown only for the account type it applies to.
- The local user name is rejected. When you switch to a local account, the name cannot match another user name already on the device. Choose a different one.
- The PC belongs to a workplace or school. Accounts connected under Accounts > Access work or school are provided by the organization. If a name or picture is wrong, ask its IT administrator.
- You cannot sign in to your Microsoft account to edit the name. The name-change page linked above points to Microsoft’s sign-in helper tool.
Frequently asked questions
Does changing my Microsoft account name change my email address?
No. Edit name changes the display name on the account. You keep signing in with the same email address and password.
Will I lose files if I switch between a local account and a Microsoft account?
The switch only changes how you sign in: you sign out, then sign back in with the other account type. It is still sensible to save open work before you select Sign out and finish.
Can I change another person’s account from my Your info page?
No. Your info only covers the account that is signed in. An administrator manages other people’s accounts from the other-users page under Accounts, where Change account type sets an account as an administrator or a standard user.
Is it still safe to use Windows 10?
Windows 10 reached the end of support on October 14, 2025. A Windows 10 PC still functions, but it no longer receives technical assistance, feature updates, or security updates, and Microsoft recommends moving eligible PCs to Windows 11.
Once your name and picture are right, the next useful step is checking who else can sign in to the PC. If someone else needs their own profile, add a local account to Windows 10 for them.
Related: how to sign out of a Microsoft account in Windows 10.
Matt Jacobs writes and maintains the guides on Support Your Tech, which he started in 2017. He spent most of his career keeping small-business PCs running and still takes the occasional consulting job, so the steps here come from fixing the same problems on other people’s computers. Every guide is checked on his own Windows 11, Windows 10, Mac, iPhone and iPad before it goes up.