Change account type in Windows 11 and 10.

 

Do we want to switch to a Microsoft account or a local account on Windows? Do we want to become administrators? Let's see how to do it.

Windows users can find different types of accounts within their computer .

The local account is the most used and allows you to use the computer without Microsoft-related services , but we will not have access to some advanced features such as OneDrive backup, settings backup and password reset via Microsoft (all advantages present instead if we use the Microsoft account to log in to Windows).

There are two additional kinds of accounts in addition to this division: standard client and head . The standard user can use existing programs but cannot install others or make advanced changes to the system, while the administrator account can make any changes to the computer.

To really make the most of our computer, in this guide we will show you how to change account type in Windows 11 and 10 , showing you both how to switch from a local account to a Microsoft account (and vice versa) and how to switch from a standard user account to a administrator account (and vice versa).

How to switch from local account to Microsoft account

Switching to a Microsoft account from a local account is very simple, given that Microsoft often pushes in this direction. To proceed on Windows 11 all we have to do is right-click on the Start menu, click on the Settings menu , press on the Account menu , open the Your info menu and press on Sign in with a Microsoft account .

If we don't want to lose the local account we can very well create a new account with Microsoft access to accompany it; to proceed in this direction, simply open the path Settings -> Accounts -> Family and other users , press the Add account button (under the Other users section ) and enter the credentials of the Microsoft account to be added.

Those who use Windows 10 can quickly log in to their Microsoft account by pressing WIN+I on the keyboard, opening the Account menu and immediately clicking on Sign in with a Microsoft account .

How to switch from Microsoft account to local account

If we already have a Microsoft account associated with our PC with Windows 11 but we also want to add a local account (for testing or to try out programs), simply open the Settings menu, press on the Account menu, click on Family and other users , select the Add account item under the Other users section , press on I don't have this person's login information , select the Add a user without Microsoft account item and finally fill in the required fields (account name, password and password recovery systems).

On Windows 10 the steps are more or less the same: let's go to Settings -> Accounts -> Family and other users , press on Add another user to this PC (in the Other users section ) and follow the same steps seen on Windows 11 to add a local account.

How to transition from administrator to regular user.

On all PCs with Windows 11 and 10 the primary account is always administrator : it is necessary to install programs and make essential changes to the system. If we notice that we get too many viruses with the administrator account or we have restored the system too often, it may be a good idea to switch to a standard user account , without deleting the administrator account in use up to that moment.

To create a standard user account on Windows 11 and 10 we can add a secondary local user as seen in the previous chapters (to whom limited permissions will be assigned immediately) or act directly from the command prompt .

To follow the path of expert users, we open the Start menu, look for the Command Prompt , press on it with the right mouse button on the app, press on Run as administrator  and launch the following command:

net user accountname password /add

Instead of accountname and password we will have to enter the name and password to be associated with the standard user account, so that we can use them the next time Windows logs in.

If, however, we have already created multiple administrator accounts and want to convert them into standard user accounts, we go to the path Settings -> Accounts -> Family and other users as primary administrator user, press on the administrator account to be modified, click on the Change account type button and select Standard user from the drop-down menu.

After the modification, we press OK and try to access the modified account: we will have fewer permissions and will be able to cause less damage to the computer , given that the password of the primary administrator account is required to install or modify things.

How to change from a standard user account to an administrator.

If, on the other hand, we are using a standard user account that only has a limited set of permissions, we can "elevate" ourselves to administrators, but only if we have access to the primary administrator account, which can be a local account or a Microsoft account.

To proceed, we exit the current account, log in with the primary administrator account, open the Start menu, look for the command prompt, right-click on it, select Run as administrator and launch the following command:

net localgroup administrators accountname /add

We replace accountname with the name of the standard user account that we want to transform into administrator and press Enter or Return to confirm the changes; the next time we restart the PC we log in to the account previously used and check that we have administration permissions.

Alternatively we can use the same procedure seen in the previous chapter: let's go to the primary administrator account, visit the path Settings -> Accounts -> Family and other users , click on the standard account we want to modify, press on Change account type and, in the drop-down menu, select Administrator .

Once the changes have been made , press OK , log out of the primary administrator account and try to access the target account, so as to be able to verify the presence of administration permissions.

Conclusions

Managing account types is quite simple on Windows , since we can rely on both the operating system settings and convenient prompt commands. Graphical methods are much appreciated by novice users but let's not underestimate the power of the command prompt : with it we can create new standard user accounts on the fly and transform standard accounts already present on the PC into administrators.

Adding the Microsoft account is essential to be able to access some functions , while the presence or absence of administrator accounts depends exclusively on who will use the PC: for example, we can leave only ourselves as administrators and set up simple local accounts for our children or for anyone who uses the PC less carefully