- To create a local account on Windows 11, open Settings > Accounts > Other users (or Family & other users), click “Add account,” choose “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information,” select “Add a user without a Microsoft account,” confirm the account information.
- Another way to create a local account is to run the “net user USER-NAME PASSWORD /add” on Command Prompt (admin) or the “New-LocalUser “NEW-ACCOUNT-NAME” -Password $Password -FullName “USER-FULL-NAME” -Description “DESCRIPTION” on PowerShell (admin).
On Windows 11, you can create a local account to avoid using the Microsoft account, meaning that your settings and files will only be available locally on the device for a more private and secure experience.
Typically, you would want to set up a device with a Microsoft account since it offers more benefits, like seamless integration with various services and syncing for files and settings across devices. However, if you feel that the cloud-powered account type is not for you, creating a local account that doesn’t connect to the Microsoft services using the Settings app, Command Prompt, and PowerShell is possible.
This guide will teach you three different approaches to creating a local account on Windows 11. (See also this video tutorial with the instructions in the Pureinfotech YouTube channel.)
- Create local account on Windows 11 22H2
- Create local account on Windows 11 21H2
- Create local account from Command Prompt on Windows 11
- Create local account from PowerShell on Windows 11
Create local account on Windows 11 22H2
To create a local account from the Settings app on Windows 11 22H2, use these steps:
Open Settings on Windows 11 22H2.
Click on Accounts.
Click the Other users tab.
Under the “Other users” section, click the Add account button.
Click the “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information” option.
Click the “Add a user without a Microsoft account” option.
Create a Windows 11 22H2 local account by confirming a name and password.
Configure the security questions to recover the account if the password is lost.
Click the Next button.
(Optional) Select the newly created account and click the “Change account type” button.
Use the “Account type” drop-down menu and select the Administrator option.
Click the OK button.
Once you complete the steps, the new account will appear on Windows 11, and the new user should be able to log in as a standard user or administrator, depending on the account type settings.
Create local account on Windows 11 21H2
To create a local account from the Settings app on Windows 11 21H2, use these steps:
Open Settings on Windows 11 21H2.
Click on Accounts.
Click the Family & other users tab.
Under the “Other users” section, click the Add account button.
Click the “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information” option.
Click the “Add a user without a Microsoft account” option.
Create a Windows 11 21H2 local account by confirming a name and password.
Configure the security questions to recover the account if the password is lost.
Click the Next button.
(Optional) Select the newly created account and click the “Change account type” button.
Use the “Account type” drop-down menu and select the Administrator option.
Click the OK button.
Once you complete the steps, the new account will appear on Windows 11, and the new user should be able to log in as a standard user or administrator, depending on the account type settings.
Create local account from Command Prompt on Windows 11
It is faster to create and manage an account using Command Prompt if you are comfortable typing commands.
To create a local standard or administrator account on Windows 11 with Command Prompt:
Open Start.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to create a new account and press Enter:
net user USER-NAME PASSWORD /add
In the command, change USER-NAME and PASSWORD with the credentials you want to use for the new user account.
(Optional) Type the following command to add the newly created account to the “Administrators” group and press Enter:
net localgroup administrators USER-ACCOUNT /add
In the command, replace USER-ACCOUNT with the account name you want to add to the administrators’ group.
If you want to test the new changes, sign out, and you will notice the new user account sitting in the screen’s bottom-left corner. Then select the new user account and sign in.
Create local account from PowerShell on Windows 11
To create an account without a Microsoft account with PowerShell, use these steps:
Open Start.
Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to temporarily store the password inside a string in the “$Password” variable and press Enter:
$Password = Read-Host -AsSecureString
Type the password for the new Windows 11 account and press Enter.
Type the following command to create the new account with PowerShell and press Enter:
New-LocalUser "NEW-ACCOUNT-NAME" -Password $Password -FullName "USER-FULL-NAME" -Description "DESCRIPTION"
In the command, change NEW-ACCOUNT-NAME for the account name and USER-FULL-NAME for the user’s full name. Also, replace DESCRIPTION with the description you want to use for the account.
Type the following command to add the Windows 11 account to the correct user group and press Enter:
Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" -Member "NEW-ACCOUNT-NAME"
In the command, change NEW-ACCOUNT-NAME for the account name. In the above command, we add the new account to the Administrators group, which gives the user full access to the device. If you want the user to have limited access, add the account to the Users group, making the account a “Standard User.”
Once you complete the steps, the new local account will be available on Windows 11 with full access using administrative privileges.
