How to I add a guest account to windows 11

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How to I add a guest account to windows 11

Steve Moench 0

I want to grant access to guests without them being able to access my files.

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Answer 1

Anonymous

Hi Steve, Windows 11 doesn’t have the old Guest account anymore, but you can create a local standard account instead. Just go to Settings > Accounts > Other users, click Add account, and choose Add a user without a Microsoft account. Give it a name like ‘Guest’ and make sure it’s set as a Standard User so they can’t access your files. Your personal folders under your user profile stay private by default. Here’s the official Microsoft guide if you want the full steps: Manage User Accounts in Windows.

Brax 0 Reputation points

2025-12-12T19:32:06.7466667+00:00

The article you referenced is outdated. The local account option "I don't have this person's sign-in information" has been removed. Microsoft also removed the Computer Management > Local Groups and Computers option from Windows 11 Home edition as well. facepalm

So, if we have people who don't typically use the computer enough to have their own profile that want to, we now need to create a generic Microsoft account for a "general guest" account or be forced to add multiple individual people?

Seems like Microsoft is punishing normal users and preventing us from having good practices for privacy protection. I'm sure NO issues will come of this. wink
kashmiri 1 Reputation point

2026-10-03T09:02:27.4333333+00:00

@Brax : Incorrect, you can easily create a local account (add user without an email address) even on Windows 11 26H2.