Fix Windows Profile Save Error 0X00000947 (NERR_ProfileSaveErr)

1. Profile folder permissions are the usual culprit

Most of the time, this error shows up when Windows tries to save your profile and finds it can't write to the C:\Users\YourUserName folder. That happens after a user profile gets migrated from an old PC, or after you use a third-party cleanup tool that messes with permissions.

You'll see this error right when you log off or shut down. The message says something like: "Errors occurred while saving the NERR_ProfileSaveErr profile file" with the code 0X00000947.

Here's the fix for that:

1. Press Windows key + R, type regedit, hit Enter. Say Yes to the UAC prompt.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
3. Look for a key that ends with .bak. You'll probably see two similar entries – one with a .bak and one without. The one without the .bak is your current profile.
4. Right-click the non-.bak key, choose Export, save it somewhere safe (just in case).
5. Delete the non-.bak key. Then rename the .bak key to remove the .bak extension. So S-1-5-21-xxxx-1001.bak becomes S-1-5-21-xxxx-1001.
6. Close Registry Editor. Reboot your PC.

After the reboot, Windows should recreate your profile with proper permissions. Log in fresh. The error should be gone.

2. Corrupted user profile folder – the stubborn one

If the registry trick didn't work, your actual profile folder might be corrupted. This happens a lot after a sudden power loss during a logoff, or after a drive check (chkdsk) runs and fixes something but leaves the folder broken.

You can test this fast: open File Explorer, go to C:\Users\. Right-click your user folder, choose Properties, go to the Security tab. Click Advanced. Check if your username shows up with Full control. If you see weird entries like S-1-5-21-... instead of your name, permissions are trashed.

Here's how to rebuild the profile:

1. Make sure you're logged in as a different administrator account. If you only have one account, create a temporary local admin (Settings > Accounts > Other users > Add someone else). Log into that temporary account.
2. Back up everything from C:\Users\[YourOldUserName] to an external drive. Don't skip this – you'll lose Desktop, Documents, etc.
3. Open System Properties (Right-click This PC > Properties > Advanced system settings). Under User Profiles, click Settings.
4. Select your broken profile, click Delete. Confirm.
5. Now delete the folder C:\Users\[YourOldUserName] manually if it still exists (you might need to take ownership first).
6. Log out of the temporary admin account, log back in with your original account. Windows creates a brand new profile folder from scratch.

Restore your backed-up files into the new folder. The error won't come back because the profile is clean.

3. Group Policy blocking profile save

Less common, but I've seen this in corporate environments. An admin (or sometimes a misconfigured setting) tells Windows to limit profile size or delete profiles at logoff. That can trigger 0X00000947 because Windows tries to save but gets stopped.

Check this if you're on a work computer or after a domain join. Here's what to look at:

1. Press Windows key + R, type gpedit.msc, hit Enter. (This won't work on Windows Home – skip to the registry method below.)
2. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > User Profiles.
3. Find Limit profile size. Double-click it. If it's Enabled, the size limit might be too low. Set it to Not Configured or Disabled.
4. Also check Delete user profiles older than a specified number of days. If that's on, it can interfere.
5. Reboot and test logoff.

If you don't have gpedit, use Registry Editor:

1. Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
2. Look for MaxProfileSize. Delete it or set it to 0.
3. Also delete DeleteUserProfilesOlderThanDays if it exists.
4. Reboot.

That removes the policy restrictions. The profile should save normally afterward.

Quick reference table

Try the first fix – it works for about 8 out of 10 cases. If not, move to the second one. The third is only for domain-joined machines or if you've tweaked policies.