Roaming profiles not creating user folders

If the roaming profiles are not creating user folders for the new accounts, there are several potential issues to consider:

1. Permissions: Ensure that the shared location where the user profiles are being stored has the correct permissions set. The users must have write access to the shared folder to create their profile folders.
2. Group Policy Settings: Verify that the Group Policy settings for roaming profiles are correctly applied to the new user accounts. Check if the GPO that sets the roaming profile path is linked to the appropriate Organizational Unit (OU) containing the new user accounts.
3. Profile Path Configuration: Double-check the profile path configuration for the new accounts in Active Directory. Ensure that the path is correctly specified and follows the format required (e.g., \\server\share\%username%).
4. Event Logs: Look at the event logs on the client machines for any errors related to user profile creation. This can provide insights into what might be going wrong during the login process.
5. Network Issues: Ensure that there are no network connectivity issues between the client machines and the server hosting the shared profile folder. Network problems can prevent the folders from being created.
6. Profile Corruption: If there are issues with existing profiles, it might be necessary to delete any corrupted profiles from the server or local machine to allow new profiles to be created successfully.

By checking these areas, you should be able to identify the cause of the issue with the new accounts not creating user folders for their roaming profiles.

Hello John,

I know it’s frustrating when the first few accounts work perfectly and the rest don’t create their profile folders on first sign‑in. The silver lining is that this almost always comes down to permissions or policy on the shared path, not a deeper Active Directory issue.

When a new user signs in, Windows tries to create their folder at the shared location. For that to succeed, both the share and NTFS permissions must allow new folders to be created automatically. If the first two users worked and the others don’t, it typically means the share is too restrictive, the NTFS root doesn’t grant “Creator Owner” or “Authenticated Users” the right to create subfolders, or the Group Policy for folder redirection/roaming profiles isn’t applying to the newer accounts.

Please check that “Everyone” or “Authenticated Users” have Create Folder/Append Data at the NTFS level, and that the share itself isn’t limited to those first accounts. A common best practice is to allow Full Control at the share and enforce access with NTFS. Next, run gpresult /h report.html on an affected user to confirm the profile path policy is applied, and if you’re using roaming profiles, verify the path on each user object in AD is correct and consistent.

I hope this helps,

If this guidance proves helpful, please kindly click “Accept Answer” so we know we’re heading in the right direction 😊. And of course, I’m here if you need further clarification or support.

Domic Vo.