The shift from local-only user accounts in Windows to Microsoft accounts wasn’t great for many reasons, and one of them is that your home folder would have the same name as your email address.Now, that’s finally changing.Microsoft released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.8062 in the Beta Channel today for Windows Insiders, alongside Build 26300.8068 in the Dev Channel.
Both updates include a new change for the Windows setup process: you can set a name for your PC, and the name of your user home folder.When Microsoft accounts were introduced as the primary method for setting up a new PC account, Windows would set your home folder name to the name of your account.So, if you had a long-winded or embarrassing Hotmail/Outlook email address, that would become your home folder’s name with no (easy) way of changing it.
If you used one of the workarounds for creating a local-only account on Windows 10 and Windows 11, you could still pick your home folder’s name.The home folder name was always the main reason I stuck to creating local-only accounts on new PCs—my Microsoft account has my entire first and last name, and that’s annoying to type in scripts and configuration files.It’s always been easy to change the PC’s name, so that update isn’t as monumental, but I appreciate that setting being included in the setup process as well.
Microsoft said in a blog post, “Expanding on our work which started rolling to Insiders last fall, you can now choose a custom name for your user folder on the Device Name page when going through Windows setup.This most recent update now makes it easier to choose a custom name.The naming option is available during setup only.
If you skip this step, Windows will use the default folder name and continue setup as usual.” There are still a few reasons to create a local-only account in Windows, especially if you have no plans to ever use OneDrive or other Microsoft services.The option for local accounts should definitely still exist, and be hidden behind Command Prompt workarounds or custom setup scripts, but at least it’s not required to choose what your home folder will be named.Subscribe for Windows setup changes and home-folder tips Join the newsletter for focused coverage of Windows account and setup changes — from user folder naming to PC name options — with practical context for scripts, configurations, and installer behavior.
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It’s not clear when these changes will roll out to the stable version of Windows 11.They will likely remain in the Insider Channels for a few weeks or months, while any bugs are sorted out, before graduating to all Windows 11 PCs.Source: Windows Insider Blog (1, 2)
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