Written 5 Sep 2026. This is a how-to, not a product card.

Remove someone from the house share

Take a partner or roommate off the house folder on the old PC. Drop them from Samba, then from the share's valid users. Optional: delete the Linux login. You don't need a NAS.

Haven't made the share yet? Start with a file share. Need to add a second login instead? That is add another person to the house share. This note is the other direction: they should not open the folder anymore.

Skip until you have a second login to remove

If only one person can open the share, stop. There is nothing to remove. Don't wipe the whole share to kick one person. Don't change the first person's Samba password as a "removal" if you can drop the second login cleanly. Don't open SMB to the internet.

What this is

Remove their Samba password entry, take their name off valid users for the share, restart Samba, then optionally delete the Linux account you made for them. Finder and File Explorer keep the same path (\\lab-address\photos or whatever you picked). Their old username stops working. Files they already put in the folder stay on disk until you delete those files yourself.

Step 1: awake, then SSH

Power light. Fan. If it looks asleep, start with is the computer still on?. You need SSH from the couch: SSH from the couch. Connect fails? when SSH won't connect.

Step 2: confirm who Samba knows

List Samba users:

sudo pdbedit -L

You should see their short name (the one from add another person, often something like alex). If they are not on the list, they may already be gone from Samba. Still check valid users in step 4 so the share file is not leaving a leftover name.

Step 3: remove them from Samba

Swap alex for their short name:

sudo smbpasswd -x alex

That drops their Samba password entry. They can no longer authenticate to any share on this computer with that Samba login. List again to confirm:

sudo pdbedit -L

Their name should be gone. If smbpasswd -x says the user does not exist, they were already removed from Samba. Continue to step 4 anyway.

Step 4: take them off valid users

Open /etc/samba/smb.conf and find the share block (often [photos]). Find the valid users line. Remove their name. Leave the people who should still get in:

valid users = youruser

Swap youruser for whoever stays. If the line listed only them, put the first login back so you do not lock yourself out. Save the file. Restart Samba:

sudo systemctl restart smbd

Step 5: optional — delete the Linux login

Samba needed a system account when you added them. If that account existed only for the share, you can delete it. Swap alex again:

sudo deluser alex

That removes the login. It does not delete their home folder by default on Debian and Ubuntu. To remove the home folder too (only if you mean to):

sudo deluser --remove-home alex

Do not delete your own login. Do not delete the account that owns /srv/share if that is still the share owner. If you only want them off the share and they still SSH for other reasons, skip this step.

Step 6: confirm they cannot open it

From a laptop or phone on the house network, try the same path with their old username and password. Login should fail. Your login should still work. Longer open walks: open the house share from a laptop, or open the house share from a phone. Your open fails too? when the house share won't open.

Step 7: their files still on the share

Removing the login does not erase photos or folders they already wrote under /srv/share (or wherever the house folder lives). SSH in and delete those paths yourself if you want them gone. Check room after a big delete: see if the computer still has room.

What this is not

This is not wiping the share. It is not changing everyone else's password. It is not Active Directory. It is not a reason to buy a NAS. It is not opening SMB to the internet. It is not deleting files unless you choose step 7.

What next

Leave it. They stay off. Need them back later: add another person to the house share. Password stuck for someone who stays: set or change the house-share password. Open fails: when the house share won't open. Still building the first share: a file share.

Skip

• Skip until a second login exists. Adding one is add another person to the house share.
• Skip wiping the whole share to remove one person.
• Skip deleting the share owner's Linux account.
• Skip opening SMB to the internet.
• Skip buying a NAS for a login cleanup.
• Skip assuming their old files disappear when Samba drops them — delete those paths on purpose if you want them gone.