One of the first things we do when we install Windows or start a new computer for the first time, it is the task of creating a new user account. User accounts help separate apps, documents, and custom settings. This way you prevent your children, parents, partner or siblings from seeing what you do on your computer. And vice versa. In Windows 10 and Windows 11 it is common to use the Microsoft account to sync your data. But if you prefer, you can create a local offline user. Either as a normal user or as an administrator account, to manage your computer.
With a local user in Windows, you will avoid the sync functions of the Microsoft account. You can also forget about OneDrive, if you don’t use it, and Microsoft services and/or other functions that involve connecting your computer to the internet sending data without knowing why. Something that you can solve manually by deactivating several options, one by one, or drastically using a local user account. In addition, the local user can be configured to act as an administrator account and thus manage aspects of Windows such as installing applications and games, updating the system, configuring drivers and hardware, etc.
Remember that if you create a administrator account, use it only for specific administration tasks of your PC and/or Windows. For your day to day, better sign in with your local user or with a Microsoft account.
Create your own local user account
The local user account is lifetime user account. You won’t have Microsoft account benefits, like syncing settings and documents. But, in return, you will have more privacy and you will not depend on Microsoft and its internet servers. Hence the local user. You will not need to connect to the network to validate your account. In practice, the local user can do the same as the Microsoft account. We will simply dispense with the services associated with the Internet.
To create a local user account in Windows 10 and/or Windows 11, we must go to Setting. You will find it by opening the Start menu, the one with the Windows icon. Within Setting we’ll go to Account > Family and other users. In section Add another user click on add account.
Microsoft is very insistent that we use the Microsoft account. So we must clearly indicate that we prefer the local account. Hence you have to do two additional steps. First, click on I don’t have the login details for this person. And then, Add a user without a Microsoft account.
Now we only have to write the name that we will give to that username and password. In case you forget it, you must include a clue to remember it, which can be security questions. Follow the instructions that you will see on the screen until the account is created.
Create your own administrator account
As we said at the beginning of this article, the administrator account is the one used to control any aspect of Windows. That is, if you have several user accounts, the administrator account has more privileges, such as installing applications for everyone, managing updates or drivers for external components, etc. For security reasons, it is best to use this account only when making maintenance tasks on your computer. For day to day, better to use a normal user account.
To create an administrator account, you will first need to go through the steps to create one local user account, as we saw before. Once you have two or more user accounts, you can make one of them an administrator. In reality, there can be multiple administrators, but one should suffice.
So from Home > Settings > Accounts > Family and other users you will see the accounts already created. Select the one you want to make an administrator account and click on Change account type. You can have a local account or a Microsoft account as an administrator account. You decide which one to choose.
We continue. On Account typeChoose Administrator and click on To accept to confirm your choice. That’s it. From now on, if you want to perform advanced or sensitive tasks, you can log in with your administrator account. It will give you access to all the Windows options. However, if you have a normal account open and want to do something proper to the administratoryou will be asked for its password to confirm the action.