How To Set Up a Guest Account in Windows 11 Home

If you often hand over your laptop, it’s almost a guarantee that someone’s gonna look through your stuff—your sites, photos, maybe even some sensitive info. To dodge the whole privacy nightmare, Windows 11 Home makes it pretty easy to create a dedicated Guest account. That way, visitors can use the PC without digging into your personal stuff. It’s a decent workaround if you don’t want to jump into bigger account management or mess around with complicated permissions. Here’s how to do it—two ways you can get a guest setup, depending on what feels faster or more familiar.

1. Create a Guest Account on Windows 11 via Settings

This one’s straightforward, and if you’re already in the Settings app a lot, it’s probably the easiest way. It’s useful if you’re not super comfy with Command Prompt or PowerShell commands. Basically, it adds a new user profile that you can configure as a guest.

Here’s the usual process:

• Open the Settings app on your Windows 11 PC. You can do this quickly by pressing Windows + i.
• Switch to the Accounts tab on the left side.
• Click on Other users. Then, hit the Add account button beside “Add other user”.
• When prompted, click on I don’t have this person’s sign-in information. Because of course, it’s just a guest account, so no email or Microsoft account needed.
• Then select Add a user without a Microsoft account.
• Type in a name—like Guest—and hit Next.
• Optional but handy: set a password, especially if you want some extra layer of control. Otherwise, leave it blank for easier access.

Once that’s done, the guest account exists. It’s simple and pretty quick, and it keeps the guest’s actions separate from your main profile.

2. Create a Guest Account on Windows 11 Home via Terminal

If you’re more comfortable with commands or want a little more control, using PowerShell or Command Prompt can work well. This process taps into Windows’ user management tools directly. Might be a bit more fiddly, but on some setups, it’s faster once you get the hang of it. Not sure why, but it’s true—sometimes the GUI just doesn’t do what you expect or takes longer to process.

Here’s the basic rundown:

• Search for Terminal from the Start menu, then right-click and choose Run as administrator. If you prefer PowerShell, that works too. Just make sure it’s in admin mode.
• Type this command to create a new user and activate it:

net user GuestUser /add /active:yes

• Replace GuestUser with whatever name you want, like “Guest” or “Visitor”, just avoid spaces for simplicity.
• If you want to add a password to this new account, type:

net user GuestUser or, for a prompt to set it interactively, use: net user GuestUser * then type your password twice.

• You’ll need to move this new user out of the regular Users group for guest-like restrictions. Run:

net localgroup users GuestUser /delete (this removes it from normal users, making it more restricted)

• And then, add it to the Guests group:

net localgroup guests GuestUser /add (this fall under “guest” privileges)

After that, restart your PC. The new account should show up when you switch users, and it’ll be kinda “guest-lite” with limited access. Fair warning—sometimes these commands don’t stick immediately, or Windows throws a little tantrum, so you might have to do it twice or check permissions again. Works on multiple setups, but yeah, Windows likes to make this part a little more complicated than necessary.

Either way, creating a guest account is kind of a buffer—your main account stays private, and visitors get a sandbox environment. Just be aware that, on some setups, the guest account might still have a few permissions left over, so for serious privacy, consider additional restrictions or third-party tools.

Summary

• Use Settings to quickly add a guest account without messing with commands.
• PowerShell or Command Prompt gives more control, but expect some command-line action.
• Restart after setup to see the new account in action.
• Remember, permissions might need fine-tuning depending on how locked down you want things.

Wrap-up

Creating a guest account isn’t rocket science, but it’s useful enough to keep your private stuff safe while others explore your PC. The GUI way is simpler, and the command-line method gives you a bit more control if you’re into that. Either way, it’s nice to have a safety net with minimal fuss. Just a little bit of setup, and you’re good to go. Hopefully, this shaves off a few hours for someone or at least keeps their files from wandering off when the in-laws or friends are around.