--- title: "Creating Windows 10 Guest Account the Easy Way" description: "Create a Windows 10 guest account using the graphical user interface, Windows net commands, or the PowerShell command-line!" canonical: "https://adamtheautomator.com/windows-10-guest-account/" --- # Creating Windows 10 Guest Account the Easy Way > Create a Windows 10 guest account using the graphical user interface, Windows net commands, or the PowerShell command-line! Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/windows-10-guest-account/ --- ATA Learning Tap to hide [ ATA Learning ](/) * [Home](/) * [Tutorials](/tutorials/) * [Instructors](/author/) * [Advertising](/advertising/) * [Recommended Resources](/resources/) * [About Adam](/about-adam/) Search for: * [](https://twitter.com/adbertram) * [](https://github.com/Adam-the-Automator) * [](https://www.linkedin.com/company/adam-the-automator-llc) * [](/feed/) ![Creating Windows 10 Guest Account the Easy Way](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Creating-a-Guest-Account-in-Windows-10-The-Easy-Way.jpg) # Creating Windows 10 Guest Account the Easy Way [![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9a14f10ff1b1ec7d790d34f5b559e4d3de2d31b172e6ef266dfd8b479174d97b?s=192&d=mm&r=g)June Castillote](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/june/)9 February 20217 min. read Categories: [IT Ops](/category/it-ops/) Tags:[Windows 10](/tag/windows-10/) Table of Contents * [Prerequisites](#h-prerequisites) * [Creating a Windows 10 User Account using the Windows System Settings](#h-creating-a-windows-10-user-account-using-the-windows-system-settings) * [Creating a New Standard Account](#h-creating-a-new-standard-account) * [Converting the Standard User Account to a Guest User Account](#h-converting-the-standard-user-account-to-a-guest-user-account) * [Removing the Guest Account using the GUI](#h-removing-the-guest-account-using-the-gui) * [Adding a Windows 10 Guest Account using the Command Prompt](#h-adding-a-windows-10-guest-account-using-the-command-prompt) * [Creating a Guest Account using Only Three Lines of Commands](#h-creating-a-guest-account-using-only-three-lines-of-commands) * [Removing the Guest Account using the Command Prompt](#h-removing-the-guest-account-using-the-command-prompt) * [Adding a Windows 10 Guest Account using PowerShell](#h-adding-a-windows-10-guest-account-using-powershell) * [Removing the Guest Account using PowerShell](#h-removing-the-guest-account-using-powershell) * [Next Steps](#h-next-steps) Has anyone ever asked to use your computer? Would you let them use your user account knowing that they can access everything? Good thing there’s a solution – use a Windows 10 guest account. In this article, you’re going to learn all the ways to create a Windows 10 guest account. You’ll learn how to create restricted accounts with the GUI and PowerShell and you’ll even see how to convert accounts, let’s get started! ## Prerequisites Before going any further, below are some prerequisites. You’ll need these requirements to follow along with the examples in this article. * You must use a Windows 10 computer. The examples in this article use Windows 10 Home. * Windows PowerShell 5.1 – This version already ships with Windows 10. If you already have _[PowerShell 7](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-7-upgrade/)_ installed, you can use that, too. **_Related: [How to Check your PowerShell Version (All the Ways!)](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-version/)_** * _[Local admin access](https://www.isumsoft.com/windows-10/how-to-check-if-i-have-administrator-rights-windows-10.html)_ to the Windows 10 computer. When you’ve settled the requirements, then you’re ready to start making Windows 10 guest accounts. ## Creating a Windows 10 User Account using the Windows System Settings In previous Windows versions, you have the option to enable the built-in guest account. However, in Windows 10 version 1607, the built-in guest account is usable only in _[Shared PC mode](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/set-up-shared-or-guest-pc#account-models),_ which is not available by default. Don’t worry, though; there’s still a way to create a user account that simulates the Windows 10 guest account. In this section, you’ll learn how to set up a new local guest user account on your Windows 10 PC with the least number of steps possible using the graphical user interface (GUI). The two main steps to create a Windows 10 guest account are as follows: 1. Create a new standard user account. Newly created accounts are standard accounts by default. 2. Modify the new user’s group membership, effectively converting the standard user account to a guest account. Read on to learn how to create a standard Windows account, underpinning the guest account. ## Creating a New Standard Account The following steps will walk you through creating a standard account in Windows, a precursor to creating a visitor account. 1. First, on your Windows desktop, right-click on the _Start_ menu, or press the `WIN+X` shortcut on your keyboard to bring up the context menu. 2\. Click on **Run** to open the **Run** dialog. 3\. Once the **Run** dialog appears, type `control userpasswords2` inside the **Open** text entry section. 4\. Click **OK** or press Enter to open the **User Accounts** window, where you will see a list of existing user accounts on your computer. ![ Launching the User Accounts window via the Run dialog.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T153652.190-1.png) Launching the User Accounts window via the Run dialog. 5\. In the screenshot below, click **Add** to add a new user. ![Listing the existing user accounts in advance of adding a new standard account.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T153742.830.png) Listing the existing user accounts in advance of adding a new standard account. 6\. The next window asks, **How will this person sign in?**. Because your goal is to create a local user, you do not need to enter an email address. Instead, click on the **Sign in without a Microsoft account** link at the bottom of the window. ![ Adding a local user without a Microsoft account.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T153820.148.png) Adding a local user without a Microsoft account. 7\. The differences between a Microsoft account and a local account are listed in the **Add a user** window. As you are creating a local user account, click on the **Local account** button. ![Choosing to create a local user account instead of a Microsoft account.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T153851.111.png) Choosing to create a local user account instead of a Microsoft account. 8\. In the **User name** box, type in the account name you want to create. Although this article uses the name _Visitor,_ choose a descriptive name for your guest account. Adding a password is optional, but doing so will increase the guest accounts security. Click **Next** to finalize the account. ![ Adding a new user account without a password.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T153851.111-1.png) Adding a new user account without a password. Click on the **Finish** button to exit the **Add a user** window. ![Finalizing the newly created standard account.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T154006.212.png) Finalizing the newly created standard account. After creating the standard user account, you’ll be directed back to the **User Accounts** window. You’ll find that there is now an additional user listed, _Visitor_, as you can see in the screenshot below. ![The Visitor account](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T154137.025.png) The Visitor account By default the **Visitor** account is a member of the **Users** group. As this account is a standard user, you’ll now need to convert the user account to a guest. Read on to learn how to convert a standard account into a guest account! ### Converting the Standard User Account to a Guest User Account Your newly created _Visitor_ account is a Standard account. A standard account has many more permissions than a guest account. Let’s now convert a standard user account to a guest user account to remove these extra permissions. Assuming you’re still in the User Accounts window: 1. First, click to highlight the _Visitor_ account in the **User Accounts** window. 2. Once selected, click on **Properties**. 3. When the _Visitor_ account properties window appears, click on the **Group Membership** tab. 4. On the **Group Membership** tab, you’ll see several different account types. The **Guest** account type is not one of the displayed options. Click the radio button next to **Other**, click on the dropdown selection box, and choose the **Guests** option. 5. Finally, click on the **OK** button to finalize your chosen user account membership. ![Converting a standard user account into a guest user account.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T154210.555.png) Converting a standard user account into a guest user account. Great! You have successfully converted a standard user account to a guest user account type. As you can see in the image below, the group membership changed from _Users_ to _Guests_. ![The Visitor account membership has changed from Users to Guests](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T154234.352-1.png) The Visitor account membership has changed from Users to Guests What if you need to remove the guest account? Read on to learn how you can do so via the **User Accounts** window. ## Removing the Guest Account using the GUI Guest accounts are typically used temporarily. If you no longer need a guest account you can remove the account. To delete the guest account, highlight the guest account from the **User Accounts** list and click on **Remove,** as shown in the screenshot below. ![Removing a guest account via the User Accounts window.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T154329.739.png) Removing a guest account via the User Accounts window. As you can see in the image below, you will receive a warning message confirming the removal operation. Click **Yes** to confirm removing the Windows 10 guest account. ![Confirming to remove the guest account](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T154353.955.png) Confirming to remove the guest account As is often the case, there are many ways to create a user account in Windows, read on to learn how to do so using the command prompt. ## Adding a Windows 10 Guest Account using the Command Prompt Using the command prompt is a potentially faster method of creating guest accounts than using the GUI. In this example, you’ll use the command prompt to create a Windows 10 guest account. 1. Create a local user named _Visitor_. 2. Remove the _Visitor_ account as a member of the _Users_ group. 3. Add the _Visitor_ account as a member of the _Guests_ group. ### Creating a Guest Account using Only Three Lines of Commands Originating in earlier versions of Windows, the [`net user`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-r2-and-2012/cc771865\(v=ws.11\)) commands allow adding, removing, and modifying user accounts on a computer via the command-line. In this section, you’ll use the `net user` command to create a user account and then convert that user account into a guest user. To start creating a guest account, follow the below steps. First, open an elevated command prompt by entering the text, _Command Prompt,_ in the Windows search box. Once the Command Prompt application is shown in the search result, highlight the **Command Prompt** application, and click the **Run as administrator** option as shown below. ![Opening an elevated command prompt.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T154447.209.png) Opening an elevated command prompt. Next, it is easiest to copy and paste each command below into the opened command prompt window. The `/active:yes` parameter will also enable the account, which would otherwise be disabled by default. ```powershell net user Visitor /add /active:yes net localgroup users Visitor /delete net localgroup guests Visitor /add ``` ![Adding a Windows 10 guest account using the command prompt.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T154515.105.png) Adding a Windows 10 guest account using the command prompt. Just like that, you’ve created a new Windows 10 guest account using the command prompt. Read on to learn how to remove a user account using the command prompt as well. ## Removing the Guest Account using the Command Prompt When you no longer need a guest account, you can delete the guest account in an elevated command prompt. To remove the guest account, use the command below, substituting _Visitor_ for the user account to remove. ```powershell net user Visitor /delete ``` > _The deletion process will not prompt for a confirmation! You will only see a command completion message upon account removal._ ## Adding a Windows 10 Guest Account using PowerShell In this section, you’ll learn an alternative to the `net` commands using the PowerShell cmdlets, [`New-LocalUser`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.localaccounts/new-localuser?view=powershell-5.1) and [`Add-LocalGroupMember`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.localaccounts/add-localgroupmember?view=powershell-5.1) to provision a new guest account in a single line of code! 1. To create a guest account open an elevated PowerShell session. To run PowerShell as an administrator, right-click on the _Start_ menu and click on **Windows PowerShell (Admin)**. **_Related: [How to Run PowerShell as Administrator](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-run-as-administrator/)_** ![Opening PowerShell as an Administrator.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T154702.956.png) Opening PowerShell as an Administrator. 2\. Next, the command below will create a new local user account named _Visitor_ without a password via the `NoPassword` parameter. The resulting object is passed into the `Add-LocalGroupMember` cmdlet adding the account into the _Guests_ group. You will not receive a confirmation unless there was an error in the process. In this case, no news is good news. **_Related: [Back to Basics: Understanding PowerShell Objects](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-objects/)_** ```powershell New-LocalUser -Name Visitor -NoPassword | Add-LocalGroupMember -Group Guests ``` 3\. To confirm whether the command successfully created the _Visitor_ account, use the [`Get-LocalGroupMember`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.localaccounts/get-localgroupmember?view=powershell-5.1) command below. The below command looks for a group member called Visitor in the Guests group. ```powershell Get-LocalGroupMember -Group Guests -Member Visitor ``` The screenshot below shows the actual output when running the commands in PowerShell. As you can see, the `Get-LocalUser` command returned the user named _Visitor_, which indicates that you’ve successfully created a new guest account. ![Creating a Windows 10 Guest account using PowerShell.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T154916.779.png) Creating a Windows 10 Guest account using PowerShell. ## Removing the Guest Account using PowerShell As in the previous examples, when you need to remove a Windows 10 guest account, you can use PowerShell. To remove a user, use the [`Remove-LocalUser`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.localaccounts/remove-localuser?view=powershell-5.1) cmdlet in an elevated PowerShell session. To remove the guest account named _Visitor_, run the command below in PowerShell. ```powershell Remove-Localuser -Name Visitor ``` > _Be aware that you will not receive a confirmation prompt when running `Remove-LocalUser`!_ To verify that the _Visitor_ account has been removed, run the `Get-LocalUser` command as shown below. The resulting error will indicate that the user account no longer exists. ```powershell Get-LocalUser -Name Visitor ``` ![Removing the Windows 10 guest account using PowerShell.](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Untitled-2021-02-08T155020.327.png) Removing the Windows 10 guest account using PowerShell. ## Next Steps Allowing guests to use your computer need not be risky with a Windows 10 guest account. In this article, you’ve learned how to use the GUI, the command prompt, and PowerShell to create a new Windows 10 guest user account. To further apply what you’ve learned here, try to automate the Windows 10 guest account creation process. Create a PowerShell script that asks for the name of the new guest user! **_Related: [Read-Host: A Great Way to Get Input to your PowerShell Scripts](https://adamtheautomator.com/read-host/)_** Share this article [Share on X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fadamtheautomator.com%2Fwindows-10-guest-account%2F&text=Creating%20Windows%2010%20Guest%20Account%20the%20Easy%20Way)[Share on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fadamtheautomator.com%2Fwindows-10-guest-account%2F)[Share on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fadamtheautomator.com%2Fwindows-10-guest-account%2F) ## Related Posts ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/OpenSSL-on-Windows-10.jpg) ### [Master OpenSSL on Windows 10: A Guide to Powerful Security](/openssl-windows-10/) Master OpenSSL on Windows 10 with PowerShell, from installation to certificate signing requests and conversions. ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/bitlocker-recovery-key.jpg) ### [Save & Recover Bitlocker Recovery Keys: A Complete Guide](/bitlocker-recovery-key/) Learn how to save and recover Bitlocker recovery keys from files, USB drives, AD, Azure AD, and more in this tutorial. ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/How-to-Partition-and-Erase-Windows-Volumes-with-Diskpartx.jpg) ### [Mastering Diskpart : Erase and Partition Volumes with Ease](/diskpart/) Learn how to create partitions, create volumes, delete volumes and partitions and manage unallocated space with the Windows Diskpart utility. ## Categories * [IT Ops](/category/it-ops/) * [Cloud](/category/cloud/) * [DevOps](/category/devops/) * [Home Ops](/category/home-ops/) * [Information Security](/category/infosec/) * [Software Development](/category/software-development/) ## Site * [Home](/) * [Tutorials](/tutorials/) * [Instructors](/author/) * [Advertising](/advertising/) * [Recommended Resources](/resources/) * [About Adam](/about-adam/) Copyright 2026© ATA Learning | [Privacy Policy](/privacy/)