Windows 10: Enable or Disable Account in Windows 10

How to: Enable or Disable Account in Windows 10

How to Enable or Disable User Accounts in Windows 10


User accounts help control which files and apps each person can use and what changes they can make to the PC.

If you have a user account that you want to make unavailable without deleting it, you can disable the account. A disabled account can be enabled again later. Disabling an account is different from deleting an account. If you delete an account, it can't be restored.

When a user account is disabled, it's name will be removed from the sign-in screen and Start menu switch user areas so that it can no longer be signed in to.

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable a user account in Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to enable or disable a user account.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Enable or Disable User Account in Command Prompt
• Option Two: To Enable or Disable User Account in Local Users and Groups
• Option Three: To Hide or Unhide User Account in Registry Editor
• Option Four: To Enable or Disable User Account in PowerShell

OPTION ONE [/i] To Enable or Disable User Account in Command Prompt
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Do step 3 (disable) or step 4 (enable) below for what you would like to do.


3. To Disable a User Account
A) Type the appropriate command below in the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)

(To disable a local account)
*Arrow Net user "User Name" /active:no

(To disable a domain account)
*Arrow Net user "User Name" /active:no /domain

*note Substitute User Name in the command above with the actual user name (ex: "Brink2") of the account you want to disable.

For example: Net user "Brink2" /active:no





4. To Enable a User Account
*note This is the default setting.
A) Type the appropriate command below in the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)

(To disable a local account)
*Arrow Net user "User Name" /active:yes

(To disable a domain account)
*Arrow Net user "User Name" /active:yes /domain

*note Substitute User Name in the command above with the actual user name (ex: "Brink2") of the account you want to enable.

For example: Net user "Brink2" /active:yes





5. You can now close the elevated command prompt if you like.





OPTION TWO [/i] To Enable or Disable User Account in Local Users and Groups

*note The Local Users and Groups is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.
1. Press the Win+R keys to open the Run dialog, type lusrmgr.msc, and click/tap on OK to open Local Users and Groups.

2. Click/tap on Users in the left pane, and double click/tap on the Name (ex: Brink2) of the user account you want to enable or disable. (see screenshot below)



3. Check (disable) or uncheck (enable (default)) the Account is disabled box for what you want, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)



4. You can now close Local Users and Groups if you like.





OPTION THREE [/i] To Hide or Unhide User Account in Registry Editor

*note If you hide an account using this option, the account's details will not show it as being disabled, but this will still have the same affect as being disabled.
1. Press the Win+R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and click/tap on OK to open Registry Editor.

2. Browse to the key location below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

*note If you do not have the SpecialAccounts key, then right click on the Winlogon key, click/tap on New, click/tap on Key, type SpecialAccounts, and press Enter.

If you do not have the UserList key, then right click on the SpecialAccounts key, click/tap on New, click/tap on Key, type UserList, and press Enter.




3. Do step 4 (hide) or step 5 (unhide) below for what you would like to do.


4. To Hide a User Account
A) Right click on an empty space in the right pane of the UserList key, click/tap on New, and click/tap on DWORD (32-bit) Value. (see screenshot below step 2)

B) Type the name (ex: Brink2) of the user account you want to hide for the name of the DWORD, press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below step 2)

*tip If needed, you can type net users in a command prompt and press Enter to see a list of all user account names on your PC.





5. To Unhide a User Account
*note This is the default setting.
A) In the right pane of the UserList key, right click on the name (ex: Brink2) of the user account you want to unhide, and click/tap on Delete. (see screenshot below step 2)

B) Click/tap on Yes to confirm, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)




6. You can now close Registry Editor if you like.




OPTION FOUR [/i] To Enable or Disable User Account in PowerShell
*note For more Disable-LocalUser and Enable-LocalUser command options and details, see:

• Disable-LocalUser - Microsoft Developer Network
• Enable-LocalUser - Microsoft Developer Network

1. Open an elevated PowerShell.

2. Do step 3 (disable) or step 4 (enable) below for what you would like to do.


3. To Disable a User Account
A) Type the command below into the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)

*Arrow Disable-LocalUser -Name "UserName"

*note Substitute UserName in the command above with the actual user name (ex: "Brink2") of the account you want to disable.

For example: Disable-LocalUser -Name "Brink2"





4. To Enable a User Account
*note This is the default setting.
A) Type the command below into the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)

*Arrow Enable-LocalUser -Name "UserName"

*note Substitute UserName in the command above with the actual user name (ex: "Brink2") of the account you want to enable.

For example: Enable-LocalUser -Name "Brink2"




4. When finished, you can close the elevated PowerShell if you like.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Allow or Block Microsoft Accounts in Windows 10
• How to Add a Local Account or Microsoft Account in Windows 10
• How to Delete a User Account in Windows 10
• How to Add a Guest Account in Windows 10
• How to Enable or Disable Built-in Elevated Administrator Account in Windows 10
• How to Change Account Type of Users in Windows 10
• How to View Full Details of All User Accounts in Windows 10
• How to Unlock a Local Account in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Users from Groups in Windows 10
• How to Change User Name of Account in Windows 10
• How to Allow or Prevent Users and Groups to Sign in Locally to Windows 10
• How to Deny Users and Groups to Sign in Locally to Windows 10

:)

 

Strange Windows 10 User Account issue.

Look at this thread,How to Delete a User Account in Windows 10, it may help. You can try the various methods.
Make sure you are using an administrative account when removing the account or log on using the Administrator's account.

Or, if you are patient and know what you are doing, manually remove it.

Either way, Goodluck.

 

Strange Windows 10 User Account issue.

Unfortunately I had done those steps numerous reboots, it just, reappears for no good reason. The base account isn't even a Microsoft account, it's a local account.

I haven't quite tried the built in administrator account on W10, but so far in my experience on my own computer, the built in account seemed to have absolutely no more control than I did on my own.

It's just strange, I go in, it warns me twice about deleting the account, then it's gone. Reboot, and it's back?

EDIT: Just to specify, both command line and Netplwiz both say only HIS account exists on the computer, it doesn't list this rogue account. This is what I meant in my first post about the fact that even Windows doesn't seem to believe it exists, HALF the time. *Frown

 

Enable or Disable Elevated Administrator account in Windows 10  


And now to thank you once again for a great guide as always as well as stopping to share one finding here regarding the screens in Step 2 and Step 6 in Option Two.





I had to delay the catch with the snipping tool in order to catch both screens in the act of first in Step 2 getting into the user groups and unchecking the box to not only enable the hidden admin account but to provide the full name for it. For security reasons random name changes can help prevent any negative consequences from having it enabled and someone finding out just what name the hidden admin uses.

The other screen captures shows the need to use the right click to rename option when going to rename the account in addition to the rename on the line in the screen followed by clicking on the apply button. A fast right click on the Start button to select the Control Panel followed by opening the Administrative tools as outlined in Option Two saves a whole world of time if and when you decide to rename it.





Still need to work on that other item regarding taking ownership but wanted you to see that there is a little room even with the built in account for a little customization?

 

Youtube disabled my account, help please

the page where is said account disabled , it also showed a link saying next step is to contact us,
i ran that link and reported the problem, still no reply

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

As you may already know, Windows 10 (as well as Windows 8) allow you to log in with a valid Microsoft account, instead of creating a local account that only works on your machine. However, you may prefer to keep a local account for privacy reasons. If you do, though, some Windows 10 features—like Cortana—may not work. Despite the default behavior, the Windows 10 Store is not one of them. You can still log in to your Microsoft account for just the Store without switching to a full Microsoft account. The process, however, is not terribly obvious. To do so, follow these steps:

• Launch the Store from your Start menu.
• Click the user icon next to the search box.
• Click “Sign-in” from the menu that appears.
• Choose “Microsoft account” and log in like normal.
• When the “Make it yours” box appears do not enter your password. Instead, click “Sign in to just this app instead.”

from Lifehacker