How to Enable Guest User Account in Windows 10?

Every computer on a serious note contains many confidential files and data which should not be shared with anyone unknown at all. But, in spite of all the hardcore protection you take to safeguard your privacy, there shall always be someone who finds a way to sneak-peak.

Thus Windows provide a feature called Guest Account User which allows users to access your computer, but since you are the administrator of your system, the guest user account put some restrictions which do not allow the user to fully access or operate your computer. This will keep your private files or system settings safe and secured. You can also enable and disable built-in administrator account on Windows.

What are the restrictions for the Guest Account?

The restrictions for the guest account are as follows:

  • It would not allow the user to install apps, hardware devices and desktop programs.
  • The guest account doesn’t have a password protection feature and cannot be set either.
  • It would not also permit the user to alter the settings of other user accounts.
  • The Guest User Account can only be enabled or disabled by the admin alone.

This article would demonstrate you the ways to enable Guest User Account feature in Windows 10

Continue reading to know the details of the methods.

Method #1: Enable Guest User Account  Using Command Prompt

Command prompt feature introduced in Windows operating system is a black dialog box and one of the powerful tools to control and manage various settings of the operating system. In this method we would employ it to carry out our job. The steps are given below:

Step 1.Go to the “Start” button and click on it.

Step 2.In the search box type in “cmd” and hit “Enter”.

Step 3.Once the command prompt option appears in the result, right click on it and choose “Run as administrator” to get all the admin privileges.

Step 4.Click on “Yes” on the User Account Control (UCA) dialog box.

Step 5.After hitting “Enter” the black dialog box of command prompt would instantly appear on your window screen.

Step 6.Now; in order to enable the guest account type the following and press “Enter”:

net user guest /active:yes

 command prompt

Step 7.Once you are done with this much, you can restart your computer now, and this time while opening the main window, the guest user account icon will be displayed along with your admin account icon.

Also read: How to reset admin or guest password on Windows 10

Method #2: Enable Guest User Account Using Local Group Policy Editor

As we all know that Local Group Policy Editor is a MMC (Microsoft Management Console) snap-in which provides you a single user interface with the help of which you can actually manage all the local group objects. In order to enable your guest account using local group policy editor, follow simply the steps given below:

Step 1.Press “Window key + R” and the run search box would appear.

Step 2.Type in “gpedit.msc” and hit “Enter”.

Step 3.On hitting “Enter” the local group policy editor window would pop up.

local group policy editor

Step 4.On the left side bar click on “Computer Configuration”.

Step 5.From the drop down list, select “Windows Settings”> “Security Settings”> “Local Policies”.

Step 6.From the drop down list choose “Security options”.

Step 7.The panel that appears on the right side of the group editor window, find and locate a policy named “Accounts: Guest account Status” and click on it.

Step 8.On clicking on it, the “Guest account status properties” panel would pop up.

Guest account status properties

Step 9.Choose “Enable’ option and press “ok” to enable the guest user account feature on your computer.

You can later on choose “Disable” option to disable the feature as well. After you create a guest account, you can also easily set a password to local account.

Method #3: Turn on Pre-installed Guest Account Feature off Computer

In this method you do not have to go adopt any other options but the already installed feature for guest account. Follow the steps given below to enable it:

Step 1.Click on the “Start” button and in the search box, type “guest” and hit “Enter”.

Step 2.Select the “Turn guest account on or off” option from the result displayed.

Turn guest account on or off

Step 3.On the following “Manage Accounts” window, select “Guest” option.

Step 4.Once “Turn on Guest Account” window appears, click on “Turn on” option.

So there you go, your job is done and your guest user account is enabled now.

Method #4: Using Computer Management

Computer management is actually a collection of administrative tools which can be used to manage remote or local computers; here we would use to enable guest user account.

Step 1.Press the combination “Windows key + R” and the run search box would appear.

Step 2.In the search box, type in “compmgmt.msc” and press “Enter”.

Step 3.Once the “computer management” window is displayed, find “Guest” option on the “Local User and Groups” tab on the left side of the window.

compmgmt

Step 4. Uncheck the box “Account is disabled” and click “ok” to save the changes.

Your guest user account is enabled on your computer.

Conclusion:

The interesting part is that the Guest User Account is a local user account which has got very limited permissions for system access. Thus by enabling it on your computer, you are actually putting restrictions on what should be done and to what extent can a user play with your system. Since every computer is a gigantic hub of digital information hence it should be the utmost responsibility of every user to protect their private files from being misused.

Being the administrator of your system, windows operating system provides you various measures to secure your parameters and Enabling Guest User Account is one of them.

Related Articles:

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  2. How to Open Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 10