That includes the ability to create a “Guest” account, separate from any of the main user accounts. Previously, it offered an easy way to share your computer with someone, without risking any of your settings or files being affected. Not only is the feature unavailable in Windows 11, it’s also been removed from Windows 10 . This is presumably for security reasons, but the risk when giving access to friends or family is very low. Fortunately, a workaround means it’s still possible to create an account with these characteristics. It won’t be officially known as a “Guest” account, but it performs in much the same way.
How to create a guest account on Windows 11
There are several ways to do this, but the easiest method is via Settings. The first step involves creating a new local account: The newly created account will now be listed under ‘Other users’. To start using it, simply sign out of your current account and sign in to the new one. You’ll need to log in to many apps and services again, but most functions are still accessible. To make things more restrictive, you’ll then need to add that account to the “Guest” user group: If you’re not seeing the ‘Local Users and Groups’ option, there’s a simple solution – just download ‘lusrmgr’ from GitHub. It opens in a separate window, but the process is roughly the same:
Is creating a guest account on Windows 10 different?
Very slightly. Windows 10 users can follow all the same steps as above, aside from finding the option to add a new user in Settings: That’s the only difference. Now, scroll up to the Windows 11 section and start from step 4 of the first section. There’s no limit on the number of guest accounts you can create. But if you want someone to be able to change Settings or remove files (for example), just follow the steps on creating the local account. Both methods are an effective ways of providing limited access to your personal device.
Related articles for further reading
How to log in to your Windows PC without the password How to remove the password from a Microsoft account How to get Windows 11 now
As the resident expert on Windows, Senior Staff Writer Anyron’s main focus is PCs and laptops. Much of the rest of his time is split between smartphones, tablets and audio, with a particular focus on Android devices.
