Homegroup - Leave in Windows 8

How to Leave a Homegroup in Windows 8 and 8.1


information   Information
A homegroup is a group of PCs on a home network that can share devices (such as printers), and libraries (such as your Documents, Pictures, Music, and Video libraries). Using a homegroup makes sharing easier. Your homegroup is protected with a password, which you can change at any time.

If you decide that you no longer want to belong to a homegroup, you can leave it by removing your PC from it.

This tutorial will show you how to leave a homegroup that your Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, or Windows RT 8.1 PC is joined to.

Note   Note

  • You can't delete a homegroup, but if all PCs leave the homegroup it will no longer exist. You can then create a new homegroup if you'd like.
  • When you leave a homegroup, all user accounts on the PC also leave the homegroup.
  • After you leave a homegroup, you will no longer be able to access the shared files and printers of the PCs still joined to the homegroup. The other PCs on the homegroup will also no longer be able to access your shared files and printers.

Tip   Tip
If you can't leave the homegroup after trying OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO below, then:

1) Delete all files in the hidden C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Roaming\PeerNetworking folder on the PC you want to leave the homegroup.

2) Restart the PC.

3) Try OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO below again to see if you are able to leave the homegroup now.





OPTION ONE

To Leave a Homegroup using PC settings


1. If you have not already, make sure that all PCs that are already in the homegroup you want to leave are turned on and not asleep.
2. Open PC settings, and do step 3 or 4 below depending on what Windows 8 you have.​
3. If you have Windows 8 or Windows RT, click/tap on HomeGroup on the left side, click/tap on Leave on the bottom right side, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)​
Leave_Homegroup_PC-settings-1.jpg

4. If you have Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, click/tap on Network on the left side. (see screenshot below)​
PC_settings_HomeGroup-1.jpg
A) Click/tap on HomeGroup on the left side. (see screenshot below)​
B) On the right side under HomeGroup, click/tap on the Leave button, and go to step 5 below.​
PC_settings_HomeGroup-2.jpg

5. When you are finished, you can close PC settings if you like.​




OPTION TWO

To Leave a Homegroup using HomeGroup Control Panel


1. If you have not already, make sure that all PCs that are already in the homegroup you want to leave are turned on and not asleep.
2. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the HomeGroup icon.​
3. Click/tap on the Leave the homegroup link. (see screenshot below)​
Leave_HomeGroup-1.jpg
4. Click/tap on Leave the homegroup. (see screenshot below)​
Leave_HomeGroup-2.jpg
5. Click/tap on Finish. (see screenshot below)​
Leave_HomeGroup-3.jpg
6. When finished, you can close the HomeGroup window if you like. (see screenshot below)​
Leave_HomeGroup-4.jpg



That's it,
Shawn


 

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I get the message 'this computer cannot be removed from the homegroup......'
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8 - wishing it was 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Chillblast
    CPU
    i7 2.6 OC to 3.8 (or 2.8 oc to 3.6 - not sure)
    Motherboard
    Asus P6X58D-E
    Memory
    12
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI 5700
    Sound Card
    no idea
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U2410 + Viewsonic 201b for proofing
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 & 1600 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Intel 80GB SSD / 2 x 1TB Raid / 2TB WD / 2TB Buffalo
    PSU
    No Idea
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    No idea
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    60GB wired between 10 - 40gb wireless
    Other Info
    Never managed to set up a home network in 15 years.
    Tolerate Windows
    Hate iOS (actually Apple to be accurate)
    Liking Android more and more

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Thanks for that Brink, much appreciated. It took me a while to go through that systematically (and pretty sure I followed it on Win 8 as well as possible), but it didn't help. I've now completed my third clean reinstall and suffered the PIA inconvenience that goes with it. Finally it seems to be ok.

I almost dare not use the bloody computer now for fear that something else will fail......
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8 - wishing it was 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Chillblast
    CPU
    i7 2.6 OC to 3.8 (or 2.8 oc to 3.6 - not sure)
    Motherboard
    Asus P6X58D-E
    Memory
    12
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI 5700
    Sound Card
    no idea
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U2410 + Viewsonic 201b for proofing
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 & 1600 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Intel 80GB SSD / 2 x 1TB Raid / 2TB WD / 2TB Buffalo
    PSU
    No Idea
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    No idea
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    60GB wired between 10 - 40gb wireless
    Other Info
    Never managed to set up a home network in 15 years.
    Tolerate Windows
    Hate iOS (actually Apple to be accurate)
    Liking Android more and more
I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted. To bad it took a clean install.

You might create a restore point before you do anything that affects the system. This way if it has a negative affect, you could just quickly do a system restore to undo it without losing anything.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
User accounts are not deleted, they just leave the home group, correct, I won't have my custom standard account abruptly removed ? I have one folder that is shared between machines, how can I know if it is using a home group or not ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Windows 8.1 Pro - Desktop
    Windows 8.0 - Windows Phone
Hello Jerome, :)

Correct. Leaving the homegroup will not delete any user accounts. It will only disconnect the user account from the homegroup.

You will be able to tell if you are joined to the homegroup or not.

You can share files through the homegroup or workgroup though, so if you leave the homegroup and still able to share the file, then you know it's with the workgroup.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/9990-file-sharing-share-stop-sharing-windows-8-a.html
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Is there a way I can tell if a shared folder is part of a home group or workgroup ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Windows 8.1 Pro - Desktop
    Windows 8.0 - Windows Phone
You could check to see what the file shared with like the screenshot under step 6 in OPTION TWO in the tutorial I posted above.

Your account will be listed by default as the owner.

If you see "Homegroup" listed, then it's shared with the homegroup.

If you see any other user listed, then it's also shared with that user via the workgroup.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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