How to Delete Your User Account Picture in Windows 10 & 11

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Remove unwanted profile pictures from Windows & Microsoft accounts

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: June 30, 2025 Fact Checked

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Delete User Account Pictures

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Delete Microsoft Account Pictures

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Delete Work & School Account Pictures

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Tips

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Q&A

When you select a Windows 10 or 11 user account photo, it'll appear on the login screen, the Start menu, and various other places in Windows. If you don't want to have a profile photo at all, you'll need to replace it with the default profile icon (an outline of a person). Once you replace the image, you can delete your old profile photos. This wikiHow will teach you how to remove your account picture in Windows 10 and Windows 11 and delete your old profile photos. We will also show you how to delete your Microsoft account picture so you don't see it on your computer, in Teams, or Outlook.

Quick Steps

Open Windows Settings to Accounts > Your info > Browse files.
Paste "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\User Account Pictures" into the address bar.
Press Enter.
Select "user.png" and click Choose picture.
Navigate to "%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\AccountPictures" in File Explorer.
Delete all remaining account pictures.
Delete other account pictures from account.microsoft.com.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Deleting a Windows User Account Picture

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1
Open your Windows Settings
. You'll find this app in the Start menu. You can also get here by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Settings.
- For this method to work, you'll first need to revert your profile photo to the default profile picture, which is an outline of a person's head and shoulders. We'll show you how to do that first.
On Windows 10, look for the icon that's an outline of a person. On Windows 11, click the Accounts tab in the left panel.

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This is in the left panel on Windows 10, and near the top of the right panel on Windows 11.^{[1]
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One of these two options will appear. When you click it, it will bring up the "Open" dialog window.
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Navigate the User Account Pictures directory. This is where you'll find the default user icons. Here's a quick way to do this:
- Highlight this text with your mouse: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\User Account Pictures.^{[2]
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- Press Ctrl+C to copy it to your clipboard.
- In the address bar at the top of the Open window, click your mouse at the end of the current path. This highlights the information that's already in that box.
- Press Ctrl+V to paste the copied location.
- Press ↵ Enter.
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Select user.png and click Choose picture. Any of the files with the name "user" should be fine, as they all represent a blank/non-customized profile picture. This replaces your user profile photo with the default.
- Your old photo will still appear in your account settings. If you want to delete it from the computer completely, continue with this method.
- If you are using a Microsoft account to log in to Windows instead of a local account (common), you should also delete your profile photo from your Microsoft account settings. Jump down to this method to learn how.
Now you'll use the File Explorer to delete your old photo from the computer.
$Step 8 Paste %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\AccountPictures into the address bar.$

You'll do this just as you did when you navigated to the User Account Pictures folder in the Open window.
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Press ↵ Enter. Now you'll see all of your user account photos.
- If the folder isn't found, you may need to show hidden folders. To do this, click the View menu at the top of File Explorer, select Show, then choose Hidden items.^{[3]
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- If the folder does open but is empty, you don't have any additional saved profile photos in Windows.
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Select the photo(s) and press the Del key. To select multiple photos, hold Ctrl as you click. The selected photos have been removed from your account.
- If your profile picture still shows up on the login screen, in Teams, or Outlook, and you've followed all the steps in this method so far, you just need to delete your profile photo from your Microsoft account.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Deleting a Microsoft Account Picture

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1
Log in to your Microsoft account in a web browser. To do this, open any web browser, head to the Microsoft account site, and follow the on-screen instructions to log in.
- If you use a Microsoft account to log in to Windows 10 or Windows 11, you can use this method to delete the picture associated with your account.
- This will also remove the photo from other tools you access with your Microsoft account, such as Outlook and Teams.
- If your Microsoft account is provided to you by your work or school, jump down to Deleting an Account Picture from Work & School Accounts instead.
You will see this tab in the left panel. Information about your Microsoft account will appear.
This opens a larger version of your current account picture.
A confirmation message will appear.
Once you do this, you'll see your default account picture, which is just a colored circle with your initials inside.
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Click Save to save your changes. Now your account picture will just be your initials instead of a custom profile picture.
- It can take some time for the changes to take effect everywhere you use your account.
- If you use this account on a Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC that hasn't connected to the internet in a while, you will likely still see your Microsoft account picture on that computer until you connect.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Deleting an Account Picture from Work & School Accounts

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If the account you use to log in to Windows and Microsoft tools like Teams, Outlook, and Word is provided to you by your school or employer, the steps to delete your account picture are a little different. Open any Office app, such as Word, PowerPoint, or Excel.^{[4]
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2
Click the File menu and select Account. This opens your account settings.
- Some administrators may limit the information you can edit in your profile. If you can't remove your profile picture with this method, you'll need to contact your administrator.
This takes you to the profile picture editing page for your school or workplace.
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Select Remove Photo to delete your photo. If your administrator permits you to do so, you should be able to remove your account picture here.
- If your administrator only allows you to change your picture and not remove it, you can use a tool like Remove.bg to create a blank profile picture to upload.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Tips

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1
- If you want to change your profile picture for Xbox games (gamerpic), you will need to do so on your console or using the Xbox app on your phone or tablet. There is no longer an option to change your gamerpic when you're using a computer.^{[5]
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Community Q&A

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Question

I deleted the picture, but it's still there. What should I do?

Community Answer

Review Steps 7 - 8 to ensure that you've also deleted it from the account folder.

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Question

I have deleted the picture, but still it shows me. Can you tell me about account folder?

Ashkan Sahba

Community Answer

If you're unsure of the folder name, you can also just browse to the location. Here, you'll find all the account pictures you've ever added to your account using the Settings app. Select any images you no longer want and then press the Delete key to relegate them to the Recycle Bin.

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