3 Ways to Get Guest Account Back on Windows 10/11

Quick Tips

• With the release of Windows 10 build 10159, Microsoft has disabled creating a Guest account.
• You can try to enable a guest account from Computer Management settings, or by using Command Prompt.
• If the above methods don’t work, create a Standard user account, with restricted permissions that can be used as a guest account.

Microsoft Has Disabled the Guest Account Feature

With the Windows 10 build 10159, Microsoft disabled creating a Guest account. So you’re stuck with using the Microsoft account, sync it to the cloud, or a local account for accessing the Windows computer.

Microsoft didn’t offer any explanations as to why the guest user account was removed. You can use the below methods to try and restore the guest account on your PC.

How to Enable the Guest Account on Windows

Method 1: Enable a Guest Account in Windows Computer Management

As the name suggests, the Computer Management tool allows users to manage various aspects of their computer including user accounts. You can also use this tool to bring back the guest account on your Windows PC.

Step 1: Right-click on the Start menu icon and select Computer Management.

Step 2: In the left sidebar, head to System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users and you should view a list of all existing user accounts. One of them is Guest.

Step 3: Double-click on the Guest user account name and unselect Account is disabled to enable it. Click on Apply and OK to save settings.

There is no need to reboot the computer. You should be able to view the newly-enabled guest user account under the Start menu accounts section.

Method 2: Create From Command Prompt

Try the Command Prompt (CMD) in case the above method is not working for you. We will create a new guest user account using admin privileges.

Step 1: Search for CMD in the Start menu and select Run as administrator to open it with admin rights.

Step 2: Enter the command below to create a guest user account named Friend.

As we saw in the Computer Management tool above, you can’t name the guest user account as guest because it already exists. That’s the default guest user account.

net user Friend /add /active:yes

Step 3: If needed, enter the command below to set a password. We are choosing not to set one as guest user accounts don’t need them anyway. Type the password and press Enter or leave it blank if you don’t want to set one. Repeat to confirm.

net user Friend *

Step 4: Windows will place all new user accounts in the users group, meaning the account has all the permissions of a Standard user account.

Changing the group to guests will reduce the permissions and access the guest user account has to a lower level. The two commands below will delete the guest user account from users and add it to guests.

net localgroup users Friend /delete

net localgroup guests Friend /add

You should now view the new guest user account in the Start menu or at the time of boot-up, just like we saw earlier.

Method 3: Create a Standard User Account

One can create two different types of user accounts – Administrator and Standard account. The latter can also be used as a guest account.

The standard user account is restrictive, unlike the admin account which offers full access to both system apps and files.

You can go to Settings -> Accounts -> Other Users and add a new account. While creating an account, make sure you do not opt for a Microsoft Account. Once you create the account, you can select the account type as a Standard User.

Also Read: How to see all user accounts on Windows