How to change account type of users in Windows 10

[JamieKavanagh]

With the demise of the guest account, Windows 10 now only has the Administrator and the Standard User. Both of which have very different uses. If you would like to change the account type of users in Windows 10 here’s how.

Windows 10 offers two standard account types, Administrator and Standard User. The admin has access to just about everything and can make changes as they see fit. The Standard User has fewer privileges yet can use most aspects of the computer. It makes sense to allow the kids or those who don’t know computers to have a standard account, while restricting the admin account to someone who knows what they are doing.

Change the account type of users in Windows 10

1. Navigate to Settings and Accounts.
2. Select Family & other users and then the account you want to change under Other people.
3. Select Change account type and select either Administrator or Standard User.
4. Confirm and save the changes.

You can also use a command prompt if you prefer.

1. Open a CMD window as an administrator.
2. Type or paste ‘net localgroup Administrators "Name" /add’. Add your name of choice instead of ‘Name’.
3. Type or paste ‘net localgroup Administrators "Name" /delete’ if you want to convert your new account to a Standard User. While we are typing delete, we aren’t actually deleting the account itself, only deleting it from the Administrators group.
4. Type or paste ‘net localgroup Users’ to check the account is still there and now a Standard User.

If for some reason the account doesn’t appear, as happened to me when writing this tutorial, type or paste ‘net localgroup Users "Name" /add’ to add it to the Users group.

Manage Windows 10 with ease with these tutorials:
Quick guide to optimizing Windows 10
How to stop wake timers in Windows 10
How to install a color profile for your monitor in Windows 10

View all of our Windows 10 Tutorials