Are you getting the “The User Profile Service failed to log on. The user profile cannot be loaded” error when starting Windows 11/10? This message appears as soon as you type your password at the Windows sign-in screen, and your default user profile doesn’t launch. Instead, a corrupted user profile takes over, changing your lock screen and desktop background. Since the correct profile isn’t loaded, you can’t log in to your system. If you’re facing this frustrating issue, one of our solutions below will fix it instantly.
Reasons for the error “The User Profile Service failed to log in”
There are several reasons why you might encounter the "The User Profile Service Failed to Log On" error. Variations of this error include "The User Profile Could Not Be Loaded" and "The User Profile Service Failed to Log On." If you receive either of these error messages, it means that your default Windows user profile has become corrupted, which can be traced back to one or more of the following factors:
- Incorrect Windows Update: User Account Control (UAC) is designed to prevent unauthorized changes to your Windows device. Irregular, incomplete, or sometimes crashed updates can corrupt host files required for UAC to function properly.
- Partition resize error: When we resize the partition from Disk Management Sometimes, these parts can become damaged, resulting in an incorrect user profile.
- Antivirus software: If your antivirus scans your system while you're trying to log in, it can thwart the correct user profile and run an incorrect one.
- Incorrect shutdown and restart in guest logins: If you do not log out smoothly from a local account created on your computer, you may encounter a user profile error upon subsequent login.
Solutions to the User Profile Service Failed to Log On Error on Windows 11/10
The good news is that none of the above causes are major concerns. You can easily fix a corrupted user profile using one of the troubleshooting solutions below.
You should try the first few easy methods first. Only move on to more complex and time-consuming solutions if the easy solutions fail to solve the problem.
1. Restart or shut down Windows 11/10 from its lock screen
Sometimes, you just need a simple restart or shutdown from the lock screen window to fix the issue.
Whether you are in admin or guest login, use Win+L To exit it and go to the Windows Lock screen, go to the Administrator profile (if you previously used the Guest profile to log in), and click the Turn off/restart Lock screen options. Make sure you are logged in as an administrator during the next startup.
2. Delete a local user account in Windows 10/11
If the user profile error is caused by incorrect shutdowns and reboots during guest login, you may want to temporarily delete the unnecessary local account using the command Run netplwiz.
- After logging into your computer with an incorrect user profile, start the command option Windows Run using Win + R and enter netplwiz.
2. You will be presented with the Advanced User Accounts control panel screen. Enter your administrator password to continue.
Sometimes you'll encounter an error where the system refuses to accept your administrator password. In this case, use Windows Secure Boot to perform these steps. (See this solution in the FAQ below.)
3. Click Option "Removal" Next to your guest account/local account. Even if you're currently logged in to your computer using a local account, your local profile will be removed here.
4. Use Win+L To exit the local account sign-in window, restart your computer and make sure Use your usual Microsoft account to sign in again..
3. Move the NTUSER.Dat file to the default username folder.
A user profile consists of custom menu items for the desktop, downloads, documents, music, videos, and saved links and is stored in a folder within C:/Users”.
For each of these profiles, a file is created. .dat he is called NTUSER.dat Powered by Windows. Contains personal user settings.
- Go to the necessary local account inside “C:/Users” و "He told" NTUSER.dat file for this account.
2. "Paste" .dat file in username folder "Default".
3. Delete the local account folder and restart your computer to see if the appropriate user profile is loaded.
4. Repair Windows user profile using Command Prompt
The evergreen Command Prompt can fix some hard disk issues that may have caused the user profile error. In both Windows 11 and Windows 10, you must launch it as an administrator from the Start menu search.
- First, run a Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) scan, which helps repair the Windows image and may resolve the User Profile Services error.
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /scanhealth
2. Similarly, the System File Checker (SFC) command is the best way to repair corrupted Windows files, including user profile settings. It's a very simple command that can fix multiple computer issues at once.
sfc / scannow
5. Use Windows Registry Editor in Safe Mode
The Windows Registry Editor (Regedit) is one of the best solutions for fixing the "User Profile Service Failed to Log On" error. For this, troubleshooting is performed in Safe Mode.
- In Windows 11, go to "Advanced startup" From the search menu (or search in the Start menu). For Windows 10, the corresponding option is “Change advanced startup options.”
- Click "Restart now" To start the advanced reboot.
3. After the restart, a blue screen appears. Select Troubleshooting
4. Go to Advanced Options -> Startup Settings And start restarting the device again.
5. After the reboot, you will see a number of startup settings that can be accessed using the number keys. (1-9) or function keys (F1-F9). Select an option Enable safe mode.
6. Once you log in, you will enter Windows 11/10 in Safe Mode. Minimal options are visible in this mode.
7. Start Windows Run command option with Win + R and enter regedit. This task will be automatically created with administrator privileges.
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
9. Check the last few entries under ProfileList To see if there are any duplicates, e.g. entries have similar names, but at least one will contain a file .bak.
10. Rename the extension .Capricorn If it is present in the last entry, rename it to .ba only. For the other duplicate entry, rename it but add the extension “.bak”. Remove any excess .bak extensions, if any, for duplicate entries.
11. Delete the extension “.ba” In the entry that was just renamed.
12. Right click and edit. "condition" Enter the profile where the .bak was removed. Essentially, we are swapping the active default user profile through a secondary registry tweak.
13. Change the hexadecimal DWORD value from a numeric value to a "0". Click "OK" To save Settings.
14. Restart your computer in normal mode.
The error should disappear. “User Profile Service failed to log in” Once you log in again.
6. Reset Windows 11/10 PC to resolve the “Failed to sign in to user profile” error
If all of the above options fail, you can: Use the reset option To perform a clean factory reset on Windows 11/10, you must be connected to the Internet to perform a cloud-based reset.
How to reset Windows 11 is covered in detail in this tutorial. However, the basic steps common to Windows 10 are summarized below:
- Go to System -> Recovery -> Reset this PC And click "Reset your computer."
- Choose Keeping files Or “remove everything”Select the previous option so that you do not need to save a backup.
- Choose an option Cloud download to re Install Windows 11/10The download will take some time to complete.
- Once the screen appears “Ready to reset your PC” , Click "the following" to follow.
- Relax and wait for the reset to complete, as the download will take some time. The entire process can take anywhere from a few hours to a full day, so we only recommend the reset method if other methods haven't resolved the issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I fix the User Profile Failed error during logon in Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 7?
If you're using an older version of Windows, such as 8.1/8/7, only a few of the solutions described above will fix the user profile error. You can try rebooting, running DISM and SFC scans in the command prompt, and moving the NTUSER.Dat file to a default folder. The options to delete the local user account and enable a cloud-based reset will not work.
2. How do I resolve the error “We can't sign in to your account” while restarting the User Profile Service?
Sometimes, while restarting the User Profile Service in Guest/Local Account mode, you cannot log in to your administrator account. To resolve the issue, boot your Windows machine into Safe Mode and follow the same steps. (To access Safe Mode, see the tutorial above for more details.)
Keeping your hard drive in good condition is one of the best ways to prevent user profile failure. Check Top Tips for Checking Hard Drive Health in WindowsAre you still using Windows 10 and looking to upgrade to Windows 11? Here's how. Everything you need to know to download and install Windows 11.
