In Windows 10, your user profile is stored in the user's profile folder, which contains various settings like sound, screensavers, desktop backgrounds, taskbar preferences and personal folders. All these settings ensure your personal preferences are used when you sign into Windows so that your PC looks and works the mode you lot want information technology to.

If the profile gets corrupted, you can lose your personal settings. Plus, you'll get an fault bulletin that prevents you from signing into your user account, which can be very frustrating.

We'll list some of the causes of this problem and how y'all tin can ready a decadent user profile in Windows ten.

Causes of a Corrupt User Profile in Windows 10

The corrupt user profile in Windows 10 has been known to occur as a event of the following:

  • Corrupted contour registry key
  • Failed Windows Updates
  • Compromised organization or user files
  • Corrupted user account active directory
  • Damaged hard drive file arrangement caused by power outages, deejay write errors or virus attacks
  • Failed Automated Updates to Windows that involve upgrading service pack installations or other critical system files that update your user profile

How to Fix a Corrupt User Contour in Windows ten

If you're trying to sign into your user account on your PC and get an error bulletin that says, "The User Contour Service service failed the sign-in. User Profile cannot be loaded", your user profile may be corrupted. It could also mean that at that place'southward an incorrect profile path in the registry for that user account.

Beneath are several troubleshooting methods you tin can effort to fix a decadent user profile or replace information technology altogether.

Quick Fixes

  • Run a virus or malware scan. Virus or malware attacks may impairment the file system of the hard drive. In such cases, Windows x cannot load your user profile to kicking properly, and the loading procedure is halted. Running a virus or malware scan may aid detect and remove the malicious software that could corrupt your user contour.
  • Try restarting your Windows PC nearly 4 times, each time letting your computer get to the Desktop before restarting it once more. While this may seem silly, it's not. Windows has a good self-recovery process whereby it tin can repair the corrupt user contour, only information technology requires a few restarts.

Repair the Onetime User Contour from the Temporary Account

Sometimes, Windows may sign you into a temporary account (C:\Users\TEMP) if your user account is corrupted and can't beginning. In such cases, you'll go a message that says, "We can't sign into your account" and "You've been signed in with a temporary profile" notification.

Notwithstanding, you may not want to employ a temporary account considering you'll lose any changes you make to the temporary contour subsequently signing off.

  1. Before repairing your sometime user profile account, go to the Users folder in the local bulldoze C:\Users, and check if you tin encounter your old account with all its files. If non, become to C:\Windows.erstwhile and check if the files were archived in that location.
  1. If you find your old account with its files, back them upwards to an external drive or your preferred cloud storage then that you don't lose them.
  1. Open a command prompt past typing CMD in the search box and then select Command Prompt.
  1. Enter whoami /user in the command prompt and press Enter.
  1. Brand note of the Security Identifier (SID) for the current business relationship. If it's a standard user account, sign out and then sign back into an administrator business relationship.

Notation: If you lot don't accept an ambassador business relationship, kick Windows in Safe Mode and enable the born ambassador account. Sign out of the current user account so sign back into the Administrator business relationship.

  1. Right-click Start > Run. Type regedit and press Enter to open the Windows Registry Editor.
  1. Get to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList.
  1. Under the expanded ProfileList key, cheque if the SID key you lot wrote downwards from the previous pace is listed with .bak or without .bak at the terminate.
  2. If the SID fundamental is listed without .bak, double-click the ProfileImagePath value name. Enter the correct path (C:\Users\username) of your user contour folder and then select OK.

Annotation: If the user profile binder doesn't be, delete the SID key to create a new profile folder and then close the Registry Editor.

  1. Adjacent, verify that the State DWORD is set up to 0 value and then go out the Registry Editor. If the value isn't prepare to 0, double-click on Country DWORD, change the value data to 0 and select OK.
  1. If the SID key is listed with .bak at the end, right-click the SID key, select Rename, and rename the key to remove the .bak at the end of the key's proper name.
  1. Side by side, double-click the ProfileImagePath value proper name, enter the correct path of your user profile folder and select OK.
  1. Verify that the State DWORD value data is set to 0 and then exit the Registry Editor.
  1. If the SID key is listed with and without .bak, right-click and Delete the SID key without .bak.
  1.  Right-click the SID cardinal with .bak at the end, select Rename and rename the SID key to remove .bak at the stop.
  1. Double-click ProfileImagePath to modify its value name, enter the correct path of the user profile binder and select OK.
  1. Verify that the State DWORD value of the SID key is 0 and and so shut the Registry Editor.
  1. Restart your PC and sign into the business relationship that had the temporary contour mistake to bank check whether it's at present fixed.

Create a New User Account

If you weren't able to restore your user profile account using the previous method, effort creating a new profile account to supervene upon information technology. Creating a new user profile doesn't delete the quondam, corrupted user profile.

To do this and keep the same user account name, we're going to become into the registry and delete the profile for the corrupted user account. That fashion, when we reboot Windows, you'll be able to log into the corrupted user account and create a new contour. Yous'll then be able to re-create files from the older profile folder to the new one.

Notation: Before using the steps below, create a system restore point, which y'all tin use to undo any mistakes you may make in the process.

  1. Sign into an ambassador account that's not afflicted by the corrupted profile and then open a control prompt.
  1. Enter this command: wmic useraccount get domain,proper name,sid and press Enter.
  1. Make note of the SID for the business relationship name with the corrupted profile.
  1. Correct-click Start > Run, type regedit and printing Enter.
  2. Become to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\<SID> key and find the SID cardinal yous wrote downward from the previous step.
  1. Right-click and delete any instance of the SID key you wrote down, with or without .bak, one at a time.

Note: Do not delete any other SID keys you find on the ProfileList.

  1. Select Yep and then close the Command Prompt and Registry Editor.
  1. Side by side, sign into the account with the corrupted profile and and so create a new default contour for information technology. Plow the privacy settings on or off and and then select Accept.

Y'all can now copy and paste whatsoever files you want from your former profile folder into your new current profile folder. Brand certain you re-create each folder individually to avoid bringing some hidden or problematic system files to the new user profile.

Paste the files into the new account, sign out of the former account and sign into your new account. All the files you transferred will exist in the new account.

Recover Your Usual User Profile

At present that you've recovered your business relationship or created a new one altogether, you lot can customize it to your liking with all the preferences you had before the profile got corrupted.

Check out our complete guide to customize Windows 10 and how to customize your Windows 10 Start Menu.

Thankfully, profile corruption doesn't event in much data loss, but you should regularly back up your files just to be safety.