diff --git a/news/remove-userconfig.rst b/news/remove-userconfig.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..967d9559
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/remove-userconfig.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+**Added:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Changed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Deprecated:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Removed:**
+
+* `user_config.py`. Replaced by `_load_config` and `check_and_build_global_config` in `tools.py`.
+
+**Fixed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Security:**
+
+* <news item>
diff --git a/src/diffpy/utils/user_config.py b/src/diffpy/utils/user_config.py
deleted file mode 100644
index ca2cc004..00000000
--- a/src/diffpy/utils/user_config.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-import json
-from pathlib import Path
-
-CONFIG_FILE = "diffpyconfig.json"
-CWD_CONFIG_PATH = Path.cwd() / CONFIG_FILE
-HOME_CONFIG_PATH = Path.home() / CONFIG_FILE
-
-
-def find_conf_file():
-    if CWD_CONFIG_PATH.exists() and CWD_CONFIG_PATH.is_file():
-        return CWD_CONFIG_PATH
-    elif HOME_CONFIG_PATH.exists() and HOME_CONFIG_PATH.is_file():
-        return HOME_CONFIG_PATH
-    return None
-
-
-def read_conf_file():
-    conf_file = find_conf_file()
-    if conf_file:
-        with open(conf_file, "r") as f:
-            config = json.load(f)
-            if not config.get("username") or not config.get("email"):
-                raise ValueError("Please provide a configuration file with username and email.")
-            return config.get("username"), config.get("email")
-    return None, None
-
-
-def write_conf_file(username, email):
-    with open(HOME_CONFIG_PATH, "w") as f:
-        json.dump({"username": username, "email": email}, f)