Create a User Account in Windows 11 & 10: Local, Microsoft and Child Accounts

To create a new user account in Windows 11, open Settings > Accounts > Other users and click Add account. Enter the person's Microsoft account email, or, for a local account with no email, click I don't have this person's sign-in information, then Add a user without a Microsoft account, and choose a name, password and three security questions. For a child, use Settings > Accounts > Family instead. On Windows 10 the page is Accounts > Family & other users. Here is the point many guides blur: Windows 11 setup pushes you to a Microsoft account, and Microsoft keeps closing the tricks people used to skip it, but adding a local account afterward in Settings still works on every edition. That is the dependable route if you want an account without an email address.

Ethan's parents shared one laptop and one account for years: same desktop, same browser, same email signed in, same photos everywhere. When Ethan's sister started using it for school, things got tangled fast: her homework on their desktop, their banking in her browser history. At Jake's shop they spent fifteen minutes giving everyone their own account: a Microsoft account for Ethan's mother, so her files synced to her phone; a local account for his father, who wanted nothing online; and a child account for his sister, managed through Family Safety. Each person now signs in to their own desktop, files and browser, and nobody's settings change anyone else's. This page shows every way to do that, including the command-line methods and what to do when Add account will not work.

You need to be signed in with an administrator account to add users. New accounts are Standard users by default, which is the safer choice for everyday use; you can promote one to administrator afterward.

Which kind of account should you create?

You can mix them on one PC, as Ethan's family did. And you can convert later: a Microsoft account can switch to a local one, and a local account can link to a Microsoft account, without losing files.

Every way to create an account, compared

Every method creates the same kind of account underneath; Settings is simply the friendliest. Use the others when Settings is unavailable, when you need options it does not show, or when setting up several PCs the same way.

Whichever method you use, the new account starts with no personal data, the PC's installed apps, and default settings.

Add a Microsoft account user (Windows 11)

1. Open Settings with Windows + I and go to Accounts > Other users.
2. Next to Add other user, click Add account.
3. Type the person's Microsoft account email or phone number and click Next, then Finish.
4. The account appears under Other users. The person signs in at the lock screen with their own password the first time, while connected to the internet.

The first sign-in takes a few minutes while Windows prepares the desktop, and OneDrive, Edge and Store apps link to their account automatically. If they do not have a Microsoft account yet, choose I don't have this person's sign-in information, then Create one on the next screen, or let them create one free at account.microsoft.com first.

If the person is not with you, you can still add their Microsoft account; they just need to be present, or able to receive a verification code, the first time they sign in. Adding someone's email only lets that account sign in on this PC; it gives you no access to their account, mail or files.

Add a local account without email (Windows 11 and 10)

1. Open Settings > Accounts > Other users (Windows 10: Accounts > Family & other users).
2. Click Add account (Windows 10: Add someone else to this PC).
3. Click I don't have this person's sign-in information.
4. Click Add a user without a Microsoft account.
5. Type a user name, a password twice, and answer three security questions. Click Next.

The local account appears under Other users and can sign in straight away, online or offline. Keep the security answers memorable but not guessable; they are the only way for the user to reset a forgotten local password themselves. You can leave the password blank, which makes the account sign in without a password, but only do that on a PC that never leaves your home and holds nothing private.

Local account names can contain spaces and most characters, but keep them short and simple: the name becomes the user's folder name under C:\Users, and some older programs struggle with spaces or special characters in paths. A first name, or a first name with an initial, is ideal.

Add a child account with Family Safety

1. Open Settings > Accounts > Family (Windows 10: Accounts > Family & other users). You must be signed in with a Microsoft account.
2. Click Add someone (or Add a family member).
3. Enter the child's email, or click Create one for a child to make a new account.
4. Follow the prompts, including the child's date of birth, which sets age-appropriate defaults.
5. Open the Family Safety app or family.microsoft.com to set screen time, app and game limits, web filters and activity reporting.

The child signs in with their own account on the PC. Their settings, screen time and filters follow them to other Windows PCs and Xbox. Our guide to screen time and Family Safety limits covers changing or removing those limits later.

Children grow up, and their accounts can grow with them. When a child reaches the age where you are comfortable, relax their Family Safety limits gradually rather than removing them all at once, and eventually remove them from the family group or change their role, so their account becomes an ordinary adult account with all their files and settings intact. No new account is needed.

Make an account an administrator (or standard user)

1. Open Settings > Accounts > Other users.
2. Click the account to expand it, then Change account type.
3. Choose Administrator or Standard User and click OK.

Administrators can install software, change system settings and manage other accounts. Standard users can use apps, change their own settings and install some Store apps, and are asked for an administrator's password for anything that affects the whole PC. Keep at least one administrator account, and for everyday browsing and email, a standard account is the safer habit: malware that arrives while you use a standard account cannot change system files without an administrator password.

When a standard user tries something that needs administrator rights, Windows shows a User Account Control prompt asking for an administrator's password or PIN. That prompt is the safety net working as designed, not an error. Parents of children with standard accounts often find it the most useful protection on the PC.

Create accounts from the command line

Open Terminal (Admin) by right-clicking Start. Two ways:

net user (Command Prompt or PowerShell)

net user Asha MyP@ssw0rd /add creates a local standard account named Asha with that password. Add it to administrators with net localgroup Administrators Asha /add. Use net user Asha * to be prompted for the password instead of typing it in the command line, which keeps it out of your command history.

PowerShell New-LocalUser

$pw = Read-Host -AsSecureString "Password"
New-LocalUser -Name "Asha" -Password $pw -FullName "Asha" -Description "Family PC"
Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Users" -Member "Asha"

New-LocalUser creates the account without adding it to a group, so the last line makes it a normal user; use Administrators instead for an admin. These commands create local accounts only; Microsoft accounts are added through Settings.

To check the result, run net user with no other words to list every local account, or net user Asha to see one account's details, including group memberships, password settings and last sign-in. To remove an account created this way, use net user Asha /delete, which removes the account but leaves its folder under C:\Users for you to clean up after copying anything important.

Create accounts with netplwiz or Local Users and Groups

netplwiz: press Windows + R, type netplwiz, and click Add. It opens the same flow as Settings, with the option at the bottom to Sign in without a Microsoft account (not recommended) and then Local account. The same window lists all users and changes their group membership on the Properties button.

Local Users and Groups (Pro, Enterprise and Education only): press Windows + R, type lusrmgr.msc, right-click Users, choose New User, fill in the name and password, and clear User must change password at next logon if you want them to keep it. This console also controls options such as Password never expires and Account is disabled.

netplwiz is also where the old "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" checkbox lives, used for automatic sign-in on some setups. Leave it checked on any PC with more than one user, so each person signs in to their own account.

Creating an account during Windows setup

When you set up a new PC or reinstall Windows, setup creates the first account, which becomes an administrator. Windows 11 Home and Pro setup asks for a Microsoft account and an internet connection. For years, people skipped this with offline-setup tricks, and Microsoft has been steadily removing them in newer releases, so methods found in older articles often no longer work. The reliable approach is to complete setup with a Microsoft account, then add a local account in Settings, make it an administrator, sign in to it, and, if you like, remove the Microsoft account or switch it to local as shown below. Organizations setting up many PCs use deployment tools that create accounts without these prompts.

Switch a Microsoft account to a local account (and back)

1. Sign in to the account you want to change.
2. Open Settings > Accounts > Your info.
3. Under Account settings, click Sign in with a local account instead.
4. Confirm your identity, then choose a user name, password and hint, and click Next and Sign out and finish.

Files, apps and settings stay. What changes: OneDrive and other Microsoft apps ask you to sign in separately, settings stop syncing, and if the PC uses Device Encryption, make sure your recovery key is saved somewhere outside the PC, since it is normally backed up to your Microsoft account. To go back, use Sign in with a Microsoft account instead on the same page. On some current versions this option may be hidden for certain account setups; adding a separate local admin account, as above, always works.

What a local account cannot do (and workarounds)

A local account works for almost everything, but a few features expect a Microsoft account. The Microsoft Store can still install free apps after signing in to the Store app itself; OneDrive needs a sign-in in the OneDrive app; settings and passwords do not sync across PCs; and Device Encryption's recovery key is not automatically backed up online. None of these require converting the whole Windows account: signing in to individual apps with a Microsoft account gives their features while Windows itself stays local. That combination suits many privacy-minded users, such as Ethan's father.

Accounts and your encryption recovery key

Many Windows 11 PCs turn on Device Encryption or BitLocker automatically when the first Microsoft account signs in, and the recovery key is saved to that Microsoft account. If you later remove that account or switch every account to local, make sure you have a copy of the key: open Settings > Privacy & security > Device encryption or search for Manage BitLocker, and back up the recovery key to a file or printout kept away from the PC. Without it, a hardware change or firmware update that triggers recovery could lock everyone out of the drive.

What happens the first time a new user signs in

The first sign-in takes a minute or several while Windows builds the user's profile: folders under C:\Users\name, default apps, Start layout and settings. They then go through a short privacy settings screen. Apps installed "for all users" are available to them; apps installed only for another user are not. Their desktop, Documents, browser and email are empty and private to them. If a user should have a shortcut or shared folder, set it up in their account after the first sign-in, or use the shared Public folders described below.

Profiles are created only once. If the new user's first sign-in is interrupted, by a restart or power cut, sign in again; Windows finishes the setup. If it fails repeatedly, delete the account and create it again rather than troubleshooting a half-built profile.

A first-day checklist for a new account

1. Sign in as the new user and let the first-sign-in setup finish.
2. Set a PIN or Windows Hello for quick, secure sign-in.
3. Check Windows Update while signed in, so any per-user app updates arrive.
4. Open the browser, set it up for this person, and sign in to their own browser profile.
5. Set up their email, OneDrive or other cloud storage, if they use them.
6. Pin the apps they will use most to Start and the taskbar.
7. Turn on File History or OneDrive folder backup for their Documents and Pictures.
8. Write down, somewhere safe, how they recover their password: security questions for local accounts, or a recovery email or phone for Microsoft accounts.

Ten minutes of setup on day one avoids the classic shared-PC problem of a new account that nobody configured, so its user drifts back to someone else's account out of convenience.

Sharing files between accounts

Each account's files are private by default; other standard users cannot open them. To share, use the Public folders at C:\Users\Public, such as Public Documents and Public Pictures, which every account can read and write. Or create a shared folder elsewhere, such as D:\Family, which all users can use. Administrators can technically open other users' folders after a permission prompt, so do not treat a standard account on a shared PC as a vault for very sensitive files; use encryption or a separate device for that.

For photos the whole family wants, OneDrive shared albums or a shared folder in a family member's OneDrive are often better than the Public folder, because everyone sees them on their phones too. For large media libraries that should stay local, a folder on a second drive with permissions for all users works well.

Privacy between accounts: browsers, email and cloud

Separate Windows accounts give each person a separate browser profile, saved passwords, cookies and history by default, which is the main privacy benefit. Email apps and OneDrive are tied to each account's own sign-in, so nobody's mail or files appear in another account. Two things are still shared: apps installed for all users, though each person's data in them is separate, and anything stored outside user folders, such as files on D: with open permissions. If a person needs real privacy on a shared PC, keep their files in their own user folder and give everyone else standard accounts.

Switching between users

Click Start, click your account picture, and choose another user from the list, or press Windows + L to lock and pick a user at the sign-in screen. Both users stay signed in, with apps open, which uses more memory; sign out of accounts you are not using on low-memory PCs. Our guide to switching users covers every method, including fast user switching settings.

Fast user switching can be turned off by policy on some PCs, in which case the other users do not appear in the Start menu list; sign out instead, and pick the user at the sign-in screen.

Passwords, PINs and Windows Hello for new users

Each user sets their own sign-in options under Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options: a PIN, which only works on that PC; fingerprint or face recognition with Windows Hello, if the hardware supports it; or a password. Microsoft accounts on Windows 11 can also go passwordless, using only Windows Hello or a PIN on the PC. For children and older relatives, a PIN is easier to remember than a long password and still secure because it works only on that device. Our guide to adding a PIN walks through it.

New Microsoft account users may be asked for a verification code sent to their email or phone, or an approval in the Microsoft Authenticator app, during the first sign-in. Make sure they can receive it before starting, especially when setting up a PC for someone who is not with you.

Secure a new Microsoft account from day one

When you create a Microsoft account for someone, take two minutes at account.microsoft.com under Security: add a recovery phone number and a second email, and turn on two-step verification. That makes the account far harder to steal and far easier to recover if the password is forgotten. For older relatives, add your own email as the recovery address, with their agreement, so you can help them regain access. For children, the parent's account in the family group handles recovery.

Account pictures and what the sign-in screen shows

Each user can add a picture under Settings > Accounts > Your info > Choose a file or Open camera, which helps everyone pick the right account at a glance, especially children and older relatives. For Microsoft accounts the picture syncs from the online profile. By default the sign-in screen may show the account's email address; to hide it, open Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and turn off Show account details such as my email address on the sign-in screen. On a PC in a shared space, hiding email addresses is a sensible privacy step.

Guest accounts: what replaced them

Windows 10 and 11 no longer have the old built-in Guest account. For a visitor who needs the PC briefly, create a local standard account named Guest or Visitor with a simple password, and delete it, or its files, afterward. Turn off its access to anything private simply by keeping your own files in your own account. For a public kiosk or a shop counter PC, Windows' Kiosk option under Settings > Accounts > Other users sets up an account that runs a single app full screen.

For a family member visiting for a week, a proper local standard account is better than handing over your own: they get their own browser and files, and you do not have to sign out of email or banking sites before they use the PC.

Remember to remove the visitor account when they leave, or at least change its password, so the PC does not keep an account nobody is responsible for.

Remove an account

1. Sign in as an administrator, not as the account to remove.
2. Open Settings > Accounts > Other users.
3. Click the account and choose Remove, then Delete account and data.

This deletes the user's files on the PC, including their Desktop, Documents and Pictures. Copy anything they need first, from C:\Users\name as an administrator. For a Microsoft account, deleting it from the PC does not delete the Microsoft account itself or its OneDrive files. If you only want to block someone temporarily, disable the account instead; our guide to enabling and disabling user accounts shows how.

Windows sometimes leaves the user's folder under C:\Users after removal, especially if the account was removed through other tools. If it is still there and you have copied what you need, an administrator can delete it to free space.

"Add account" not working? Fixes

1. The button is grayed out: you are signed in as a standard user. Sign in as an administrator.
2. The Microsoft account screen will not load: you are offline or the sign-in service is blocked. Connect to the internet, check date and time, or create a local account instead.
3. "This page isn't available" or a managed message: the PC is managed by an organization that restricts accounts. Ask IT.
4. Settings crashes when adding: use netplwiz or the net user command as alternatives.
5. The new account cannot sign in: for Microsoft accounts, the first sign-in needs the internet. For local accounts, check Caps Lock and the keyboard layout shown at the sign-in screen.
6. "The user profile service failed the sign-in": profile creation failed. Restart and try again; if it persists, delete the account and create it again.

Security questions and password recovery for local accounts

Local accounts created through Settings ask for three security questions. If the user forgets the password, a Reset password link appears at the sign-in screen after a wrong attempt, and correct answers let them set a new password. Alternatively, any administrator on the PC can set a new password for another local user under Control Panel > User Accounts > Manage another account, or with net user name *. Microsoft account passwords are reset online at account.live.com. Our guide to resetting a user account password covers all the cases.

If a local account user forgets both the password and the security answers, and no other administrator exists, the options become difficult: resetting Windows or restoring from a backup. That is the strongest argument for a spare administrator account and for writing recovery details down when the account is created.

Adding a work or school account to a personal PC

Signing in to a work or school account is different from creating a new Windows user. Under Settings > Accounts > Access work or school, you can connect your organization account to your existing Windows account, which lets work apps such as Outlook and Teams sign in more easily. Be aware that connecting may let your organization apply some policies to the PC. If you only need email and Teams, signing in within those apps, without connecting the PC, keeps the device fully yours. To remove a connection later, click it and choose Disconnect.

Check which account type you are using

Open Settings > Accounts > Your info. Under your name you will see Administrator or Standard, and either your Microsoft account email or Local Account. In Terminal, whoami shows the account name and net user %USERNAME% lists its group memberships. Knowing this explains a lot: if you keep seeing password prompts when installing apps, you are a standard user, and an administrator needs to approve.

On Windows 11 the same page also shows whether the account is managed by an organization or part of a family group, which explains settings that appear locked or limited. If you expected to be an administrator and are not, an administrator on the PC can change your type in a few seconds.

Windows 10 differences

On Windows 10, accounts live under Settings > Accounts > Family & other users, with Add a family member and Add someone else to this PC as separate buttons. The local-account route is the same: I don't have this person's sign-in information, then Add a user without a Microsoft account. netplwiz, lusrmgr.msc and the commands work identically. Windows 10 reached end of support in October 2025, but account management continues to work on PCs that still run it, and accounts carry over when you upgrade to Windows 11.

One difference worth knowing: Windows 10 Home could create a local account during setup more easily when offline, which is why many Windows 10 PCs upgraded to Windows 11 still run on local accounts. Those keep working after the upgrade.

The hidden built-in Administrator account

Windows includes a hidden account called Administrator, disabled by default. It runs everything with full rights and without some User Account Control prompts, which is why it should stay disabled for everyday use. It is useful as an emergency route when no other administrator can sign in. Our guide to the built-in Administrator explains when and how to enable it safely, and to disable it again.

If every administrator account on the PC has been lost or locked out, the built-in Administrator can be enabled from the Windows Recovery Environment's Command Prompt with net user Administrator /active:yes, giving you a way to create a new admin account. Disable it again once you are back in.

How many accounts should a PC have?

One per person who uses it regularly, plus one spare administrator account that nobody uses day to day, which gives you a way back in if the main admin account has problems. Avoid shared accounts: they mix browsing history, saved passwords and files, and make it impossible to tell who changed what. Each extra account uses some disk space for its profile, typically a few hundred megabytes to start, growing with the user's files, but performance is unaffected unless several users stay signed in at once.

A spare administrator account is worth its few hundred megabytes. If the main account's profile ever becomes corrupted, or its password is forgotten, signing in to the spare lets you reset the main password or copy files out, without reinstalling Windows.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Making every account an administrator, which removes the main safety benefit of separate accounts.
• Creating a local account with no password on a laptop that leaves the house.
• Forgetting the security answers or recovery details, leaving no way back in.
• Deleting an account before copying its files.
• Removing the only Microsoft account without saving the encryption recovery key.
• Sharing one account between several people out of habit, which mixes passwords, history and files.

Each of these is easy to avoid at the moment of setup and painful to fix later.

A sensible setup for a family PC

• Parents: one administrator account each, or one administrator and one standard account for the less technical parent.
• Children: child accounts through Family Safety, as standard users, with screen time and web filters set to their age.
• Teenagers: their own Microsoft accounts, standard users, with lighter Family Safety settings agreed together.
• Spare: one administrator account nobody uses day to day, with its password written down somewhere safe.
• Shared stuff: a family photos folder everyone can use, and Microsoft 365 Family if several people need Office.

That was the shape of Ethan's family's laptop after their afternoon at Jake's shop, and it has needed almost no attention since.

Setting up an account for an older relative

For a parent or grandparent, simplicity matters more than features. Use a standard account with a PIN instead of a long password; pin only the handful of apps they use, such as the browser, email, video calls and photos; increase text size under Settings > Accessibility > Text size; and turn off notifications they will not understand. Keep yourself as the administrator, so they cannot install unwanted software by accident, and set up Quick Assist so you can help remotely when they call. A Microsoft account helps here too, since you can reset their password online if they forget it.

Rename an account

For a local account, open Control Panel > User Accounts > User Accounts > Manage another account, choose the account, and click Change the account name. For a Microsoft account, the name shown comes from the Microsoft account profile; change it at account.microsoft.com under Your info, and it updates on the PC at the next sign-in. Renaming does not rename the user's folder under C:\Users, which keeps its original name; that is normal and harmless.

If the folder name matters to you, for example a profile folder with an old nickname, the safe approach is to create a new account with the name you want and move the files across, rather than renaming the existing folder, which can break apps and settings that point to the old path.

Where each account's files live

Every account has a folder under C:\Users, holding Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, Videos and the hidden AppData folder with app settings. To keep personal files on a larger second drive, move individual folders rather than the whole profile: in File Explorer, right-click Documents (or Pictures, Downloads and so on), choose Properties > Location > Move, and pick a folder on the other drive. Moving the entire user profile to another drive is possible but fragile and unsupported for everyday use; moving the big folders gives the same space benefit without the risk.

Do not delete or rename folders under C:\Users by hand while the account exists; Windows and apps rely on those paths, and a missing folder can stop the user signing in properly.

For IT admins: creating and managing accounts

Domain and Entra ID. On managed PCs, users sign in with their organization accounts; local accounts are usually restricted. Windows LAPS manages the local administrator password on joined devices, rotating it and storing it securely.

Provisioning. Autopilot and provisioning packages create accounts and settings during setup without consumer prompts. For shared devices, Shared PC mode and guest-style accounts are configured by policy, deleting profiles on sign-out where appropriate.

Policies. Group Policy and Intune can block Microsoft consumer accounts, require specific sign-in methods, and control who can add users. Audit local Administrators group membership regularly.

Offboarding. When someone leaves, disable rather than delete their account first, copy what needs keeping, and remove the account once handover is complete.

Creating user accounts: frequently asked questions

Ethan's family laptop is calmer now. His mother's photos sync to her phone, his father's account stays offline the way he likes, and his sister's school work, screen time and browser are her own. Nobody signs anyone else out, and nothing one person changes appears on another's desktop. Separate accounts take a few minutes to set up and save hours of confusion. If more than one person uses a PC, it is the most useful ten-minute job you can do on it.

Revision note. Written October 2, 2026, rewriting our 2015 guide for Windows 11 accounts, local and Microsoft. May everyone in your home have a desktop of their own.