Phenquestions
In a situation when you have multiple users in your Windows 10 PC at home or office, where a Windows 10 Account needs to be disabled because of a security reason or because that particular user has created a nuisance, it's a good idea to disable the user account instead of just deleting that account. This way, if you want to enable it later, you can always do that.
In this Windows 10 tutorial, I will tell you how you can disable, and then, later on, enable a Windows 10 Account. It can be a local account or an account which was created using a Microsoft Account. This can be achieved both using the “Computer Management” interface or using the Command Prompt.
Before you begin, you should know that this works with Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise editions only, and your account should be an Administrator Account. If you are using a Windows 10 Home version, it's not going to work for you.
Disable Windows 10 User Account using Computer Management
Search for “Computer management”, by first pressing the Start Button, and then typing the keyword. It should list it on the top. You can also use “Win+X” on your keyboard, and then press “g” to open it.
Next, navigate to System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users.
Select the user, and select Properties after right-clicking.
Right under the “General” tab, you should see an option of “Disable Account”.
Check it, and click Apply, and then OK.
Interesting to note, that once you disable the account, it will disappear from the “Switch Account” option, and also from the login prompt.
To re-enable the account, trace back the steps, only this time you uncheck the “Disable” option and apply.
Disable User Account in Windows 10 using Command Prompt
If you are a power user who is more comfortable with command prompt, Windows 10 does allow you to run 5-word command to instantly disable, and enable an account.
- Make sure to have the account name handy.
- Search for the command prompt using the Windows 10 Search on the taskbar.
- Once it shows up, right click and run as administrator. You will be prompted for a yes or no. Select Yes.
- Now type the following command to disable the account.
- net user
/active:no - To Disable. - net user
/active:yes - To Enable it back. - net user
- net user
Replace
Now that you know this, know a bit about the Computer Management interface in Windows 10 when it comes to users. Using this you can :
- Remove requirement to change password forever.
- Restrict users not to change password at all which is useful in case of kids account.
- Unlock a user account in case its locked out because he or she entered the wrong password multiple times.
- You can also create a new account from here which does not need to have a Microsoft account.
- Enable Guest Account.
- Delete Accounts.
It's a very powerful tool, so use it wisely. If you ever delete an account from here, it cannot be recovered, and all the files and data will be lost forever. Use it carefully.
