Create a local user or administrator account in Windows 10

You can create a local user account (an offline account) for anyone who will frequently use your PC. The best option in most cases, though, is for everyone who uses your PC to have a Microsoft account.

If needed, the local user account can have administrator permissions; however, it’s better to just create a local user account whenever possible.

Caution: A user with an administrator account can access anything on the system, and any malware they encounter can use the administrator permissions to potentially infect or damage any files on the system. Only grant that level of access when absolutely necessary and to people you trust.

As you create an account, remember that choosing a password and keeping it safe are essential steps. Because we don’t know your password, if you forget it or lose it, we can’t recover it for you.

If you’re using Windows 10, version 1803 and later, you can add security questions as you’ll see in step 4 under Create a local user account. With answers to your security questions, you can reset your Windows 10 local account password. Not sure which version you have? You can check your version.

Create a local user account

Select Start > Settings > Accounts and then select Family & other users. (In some versions of Windows you’ll see Other users.)

Select Add someone else to this PC.

Select I don’t have this person’s sign-in information, and on the next page, select Add a user without a Microsoft account.

Enter a user name, password, or password hint—or choose security questions—and then select Next.

Change a local user account to an administrator account

Select Start > Settings > Accounts .

Under Family & other users, select the account owner name (you should see «Local Account» below the name), then select Change account type.

Note: If you choose an account that shows an email address or doesn’t say «Local account», then you’re giving administrator permissions to a Microsoft account, not a local account.

Under Account type, select Administrator, and then select OK.

Sign in with the new administrator account.

Create a user account in Windows

Create a Microsoft account

Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings. (If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)

Tap or click Accounts, and then tap or click Other accounts.

Tap or click Add an account.

Enter the account info for this person to sign in to Windows. There are four ways to do this:

If the person you’re adding already has a Microsoft account, enter it now.

If the person you’re adding doesn’t have a Microsoft account, you can use their email address to create one. Enter the email address that person uses most frequently.

If the person you’re adding doesn’t have an email address, tap or click Sign up for a new email address. It’s free.

If the person you’re adding is a child, tap or click Add a child’s account.

Follow the instructions to finish setting up the account.

Create a local account

Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.
(If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)

Tap or click Accounts, and then tap or click Other accounts.

Tap or click Add an account, and then tap or click Sign in without a Microsoft account (not recommended).

Tap or click Local account.

Enter a user name for the new account.

If you want this person to sign in with a password, enter and verify the password, add a password hint, and then tap or click Next.

If your PC is on a domain, depending on the domain’s security settings, you might be able to skip this step and tap or click Next, if you prefer.

Tap or click Finish.

My computer is on a domain

Open Microsoft Management Console by clicking the Start button , typing mmc into the search box, and then pressing Enter. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

In the left pane of Microsoft Management Console, click Local Users and Groups.

If you don’t see Local Users and Groups, it’s probably because that snap-in hasn’t been added to Microsoft Management Console. Follow these steps to install it:

In Microsoft Management Console, click the File menu, and then click Add/Remove Snap-in.

Click Local Users and Groups, and then click Add.

Click Local computer, click Finish, and then click OK.

Click the Users folder.

Click Action, and then click New User.

Type the appropriate information in the dialog box, and then click Create.

When you are finished creating user accounts, click Close.

My computer is in a workgroup

To open User Accounts, click the Start button , click Control Panel, click User Accounts and Family Safety, and then click User Accounts.

Click Manage another account. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Click Create a new account.

Type the name you want to give the user account, click an account type, and then click Create Account.

How to create a new User Account or Profile in Windows 10

In this post, we will see how to set up, add, configure and create a new User Account in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. You can create a user account with a Microsoft Account login or you can create a Local Account by following this tutorial.

The Windows OS lets multiple users share the same computer under their accounts. This allows several people easily share a single computer and have their own location on the computer where they can store their personal documents, pictures, videos, saved games, and other personal data. You can have more than one user account per PC.

Each individual can have a separate user account with unique settings and preferences, such as a desktop background or screen saver. Every different User Account control which files and programs corresponding user can access and what types of changes he/she can make to the computer.

Create a new User Account in Windows 10

You can create a new user account in Windows 10 in two ways:

1. Creating a Microsoft Account
2. Creating a Local Account

When you sign into your PC with a Microsoft account, you connect your PC to the people, files, and devices you care about. As such Microsoft advises to create and use your Microsoft Account to sign into Windows.

Create a New User with Microsoft Account sign-in

Windows 10

In Windows 10, you can create a new user with a Microsoft account login as follows. From the WinX Menu, open Settings and then click on Accounts. Next, in the left menu, click on Family & other people.

Now under Other people, click on Add someone else to this PC.

A Microsoft account window will pop up. If you wish to use a Microsoft account to log in, enter the person’s email ID and click on Next to proceed and finish the formalities.

Windows 8.1

In Windows 8.1, to create Microsoft account, move the cursor to the lower right-hand corner of your computer screen, click ‘Settings’ and then ‘Change PC settings’. Next, click Accounts, and then choose ‘Other accounts’. Click Add an account.

Enter the account info for this person to sign into Windows. If the person you’re adding already has a Microsoft account, enter it. If the person you’re adding doesn’t have a Microsoft account, click Sign up for a new email address.

Follow the instructions to finish setting up the account.

In the end, you should see a screen like the one shown below. It indicates the process of signing up has been completed successfully.

Create Local Account in Windows 10

If you observe, Microsoft added some new security features for accounts. The feature though good and recommended, leaves little scope for personal choice. They force you to create a Microsoft Account first, giving it more preference over the local account. There appears no apparent way to move past Microsoft Account screen, especially when you are interested in creating just a local account.

Microsoft warns – If you create a local account, you’ll need a separate account for each PC you use. None of your settings will be synced between the Windows 8.1 PCs you use, and you won’t get the benefits of connecting your PC to your files, settings, apps, and services online in the cloud and accessible from anywhere. You also won’t be able to download apps from the Windows Store without a Microsoft account.

Windows 10

To create a Local Account in Windows 10, after you have clicked on Add someone else to this PC as mentioned above, and the Microsoft account window has popped up, you have to click on the I don’t have this person’s sign-in information link to open the following:

Next, click on Add a user without a Microsoft account link to open the following window:

Enter the username and password and click Next to complete the local account creation process.

Windows 8.1

In Windows 8.1, assuming you are on the ‘How this Person will Sign Up’ Screen, look for the link “Sign in without a Microsoft account.”

On being directed to a new screen, hit ‘Local Account’ tab.

Now, with the procedure to create your Microsoft Account skipped, you can go ahead and create a local account, similar to the one you created in previous Windows version. Enter your local account credentials, and you should be done in seconds. You will have created a new Local account that you can log into instead of your Microsoft account.

Users not quite familiar with Windows 10/8.1 might got caught by this changed login process and despite reservations and end up creating a Microsoft account.

Hope this clarifies things.

Incidentally, Quick User Manager is a freeware that lets you quickly manage users in Windows.

How to: create a Local Account in Windows 10

Technical Level : Basic

When you setup Windows 10 for the first time whether it is a clean install or upgrade from a previous version, you are defaulted to creating a Local Account. If you want to create additional local accounts after setting up Windows 10, you will notice no such option is available in the Accounts Setting. The option is to either connect an existing account to a Microsoft Account or create a Microsoft Account. In this article, we show you how to create a Local Account.

What is a Microsoft Account?

Since the release of Windows 8, Microsoft has embraced the Cloud as a first class citizen in Windows. Making it a primary part of authenticating on Windows using a Microsoft Account. Microsoft Accounts can be either a (Outlook.com, Live.com, Hotmail.com or MSN.com) domain. The benefits of a Microsoft Account are numerous when using modern versions of Windows such as Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows 10. They allow you to sync your personal files to Microsoft’s online storage service called OneDrive.

In addition to that, a Microsoft Account allows syncing of personalized settings which includes Themes, Internet Explorer Favourites, permits access to the Store so you can download your apps and easily share them with your other Windows PCs running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. The ultimate benefit being is the ability to easily move between devices. I personally use my Microsoft Account with all my Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 devices. It also provides security benefits too, making it more difficult to tamper with your user account because of technologies like two factor authentication.

Regardless of these benefits, persons still prefer to log into Windows the traditional way, just like they have been doing for more than 20 years when Windows NT 3.1 was released. Windows 10 still retains this option and procedure is very easy to setup. I will look at two ways of doing it.

Press Windows key + X

Click Computer Management

Expand Local Users and Groups

Click Users

Right click then click New User

Enter the information for the account such as User Name, Full Name, Description (optional) and the password, confirm it.

Uncheck ‘User must change password at next logon’ if this account is for your purposes and and uncheck the ‘Password never expires’ box. If the account is for someone else, leave the defaults.

Click Create then Close

Method 2:

Press Windows key + R

Type: control userpasswords2

Hit Enter or click OK

Click Add

Click Sign in without a Microsoft account (not recommended)

Click Local account

Enter your account information then click Next

Click Finish

Method 3

You can use the command line as another way to create a local account.

Press Windows key + X

Click Command Prompt (Admin)

We are going to attempt to create a new user account.

Example: net user Username Password /add

Where there is Username replace with the account name and where there Password replace with the desired password.

Example: net user adacosta2 pwhelp /add

Press Enter on your keyboard

You should see the following message The command completed successfully.

Type exit to close the command prompt.

Restart the machine and try logging into the new account.