UPDATE: Microsoft has now removed the Guest account from Windows 10. These solutions don’t work with the recent versions of Windows 10. So, we recommend you create a standard local user account via the Settings > Accounts > Family & other users.
What’s a guest account on a Windows PC? A guest account is nothing but an account for users who don’t have a permanent or specified account on the PC. The guest account comes in handy when you want to let someone else use your PC for a short period without creating a new user account.
The user on the guest account can’t access files on other accounts. Additionally, the guest account user can’t make any changes to system settings, create a new user account, or create a password for the account.
In the previous version of Windows, turning on or enabling the built-in guest account was fairly straightforward. We could navigate to the user accounts section of the Control Panel to turn on the guest account.
In Windows 10, Microsoft has moved almost all user account settings to the new Settings app, but there is no option under the Accounts section of Settings to enable the guest account. The Settings app only allows you to create standard local or Microsoft accounts.
Is the Guest account missing from Windows 10?
No, the guest account is available in Windows 10 as well. It’s only that the guest user account can’t be enabled in Windows 10 via Settings or classic Control Panel. In order to enable the guest account in Windows 10, you need to use the Local Users and Groups.
Enable the guest account in Windows 10
Complete the given below directions to turn on or enable guest account in Windows 10.
Method 1 – Turn on guest account via Local Users and Groups
Method 2 – Enable guest account via Command Prompt
Method 3 – Enable guest account in Windows 10 via Group Policy
Method 1 of 3
Enable guest account via Local Users & Groups
Step 1: In the Start menu or taskbar search box, type Lusrmgr.msc and then press Enter key to open Local Users and Groups.
Step 2: Here, on the left-side, under Local Users and Groups (local), click Users.
Step 3: Next, in the middle pane, double-click on Users to view all user accounts on your Windows 10 PC.
Step 4: Right-click the Guest and then click Properties or double-click on Guest to open its properties.
Step 5: To enable the Guest account, under the General tab, uncheck the option titled Account is disabled. In the full name field, type in a name for the account if you wish to have a different name for the account, and then click the Apply button to enable the guest account.
You have just enabled the Guest account!
To sign in or switch to the Guest account, click on your user account name on the Start menu (top-left of the Start) and then click on the Guest account to switch the account.
Note that many users are reporting that the Guest account is not correctly working even after enabling the same.
Method 2 of 3
Enable Guest account via Command Prompt
Step 1: Open Command Prompt as administrator. To do so, type CMD in the Start menu or taskbar search box to see Command Prompt in the search results, right-click on the Command Prompt entry, and then click Run as administrator option.
Click Yes button when you see the User Account Control prompt.
Step 2: In the elevated prompt, type the following command and then hit Enter key.
net user guest /active:yes
Step 3: Close the Command Prompt window. That’s it!
Method 3 of 3
Enable Guest account via Group Policy
Note that Group Policy is not part of the Home edition of Windows 10. So, this method doesn’t work on Windows 10 Home edition.
Step 1: Open Group Policy Editor by typing Edit Group Policy in the Start or taskbar search box and then pressing Enter key.
Click Yes if and when you see the UAC prompt.
Step 2: In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to the following policy:
Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options.
Step 3: On the right-side, look for the policy labeled Accounts: Guest account status and double-click on the same to open its properties.
Step 4: Select the Enabled option and then click the Apply button to turn on the Guest account in Windows 10.
Have you enabled the guest account on your Windows 10 PC?
Richard Swaby says
This is similar to method 2 above but I used Windows Powershell not CMD prompt (Same really). I created a Visitor account and I can switch between visitor account and my account. laptopmag.com/articles/create-guest-account-windows-10
Andrew H says
this worked for me – on windows 10.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/4026923/windows-10-create-a-local-user-or-administrator-account
PepperPot says
This article needs to be updated to reflect what John wrote. You have to disable “Deny log on locally” after you follow the steps above.
Tim Leon says
Here’s how to Add a Guest Account to Windows 10 home. We are using Visitor instead of Guest for the name to avoid any conflicts, but it is a true Guest account.
Open an elevated command prompt. Here’s how – Press the key with the windows logo on it and the R key at the same time. This will open the “Run” box. In the “Run” box that opened up, Type “cmd” (without the quote marks) in the box next to the word open. Hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and Press Enter at the same time. This will run the command as an administrator, and you will see a black window open up with a flashing command prompt.
Use the following commands in the elevated command prompt. You can type them yourself, or you can copy and paste them and press the Enter key afterward to execute the final command. (If you wish to use a different name, type the commands one at a time and replace Visitor with your desired name. If it has a space in it, you have to enclose the name in quotes like this: “Guest User”). Remember to press the “Enter” key at the end of each line to execute the commands.
net user “Visitor” /add
net localgroup Users “Visitor” /delete
net localgroup Guests “Visitor” /add
If you want to add a password to the guest account, then type the following command as well, replacing Visitor with your guest account name, and remember to replace NewPassword with the actual password you wish to use.
net user “Visitor” “NewPassword”
When you are finished, you can close the command prompt window.
John says
There is one more step after “Local Policies/Security Options” and that is under “Local Policies/User Rights Assignment” you must remove the Guest User from the “Deny log on locally” list… Simply right click on the setting, open “Properties” and then remove the Guest User from the list….
Drew says
no luck, shows enabled, but Guest still doesn’t show on login screen.
Jennifer says
I tried all three methods, and none were successful in creating a guest account. I have Windows 10 Home Edition. With the Lusrmgr.msc method. There were no subfolders to choose from, therefore I could not click on a “Users” folder.
daryl says
I use Windows 10 Home edition.
I successfully “enabled” the user account by running cmd as administrator
It BEGAN to work–Windows even asked me to change the default password when I first signed in.
I can now sign in, but it doesn’t WORK. The screen is completely blank.
Miguel says
In windows 10 you can enable the guest user but you cant use it. Even if you make him an administrator
alex says
none of these methods work with windows 10 home
James Weizel says
Terrible answer. Useless for Windows 10. Maybe you are giving directions for Windows 7? We all miss Windows 7, but you need to move on.