Microsoft account or local account – which one should you choose?

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MICROSOFT By Lance Whitney Which type of account should you use for your personal Windows 10 computer? That depends on your situation, though there ar
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Lars220, lmacri, abbodi86

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I now use only a Microsoft account for all my Windows computers because I have found that it is impractical to try and recover from a lost or damaged local account password.  There are basically no workable tools to do so and this is especially true when, for no reason I can determine, the stored password has actually been corrupted in some way by the system.

On the other hand, Microsoft recovery procedures for  a lost (or damaged) password is straightforward, and especially easy if you use the Authenticator app on your ‘phone.  I am sure this is because Microsoft really wants us to be signed on to their account when using Windows.

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In a small office, if I configure a new PC for three users, can each user be set up and connected to a different MS account, or  must there be a single MS account for all the users on the PC?

If can be separate MS accounts, would OneDrive and MS Office be different for each user or again just a single account?

thanks

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glnz wrote:

In a small office, if I configure a new PC for three users, can each user be set up and connected to a different MS account,

Yes.

glnz wrote:

or  must there be a single MS account for all the users on the PC?

No.

glnz wrote:

If can be separate MS accounts, would OneDrive and MS Office be different for each user

Yes.

glnz wrote:

or again just a single account?

No.

Windows 11 Pro version 22H2 build 22621.1483 + Microsoft 365 + Edge

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I recently updated several computers to Windows 10 Home version 21H1 using a Media creation tool (they were older systems given to me when people purchased newer ones) so I could do a clean install.

I selected the option to download updates from the internet.

When the install ended and I came to the set up an account screen there was NO option to create a local account searching with my Mark 1 Mod 1 eyeballs, I could only create a Microsoft account.  So, I did so using a dummy (never existed before) gmail address with totally insecure password.  I used the same account for each of the computers I was updating.

When the system completed the updates I immediately went to the Accounts setting and changed to a local account (“MyPC” with no password as I was giving the computers to a charity) and then deleted the MS account.  I don’t know if the MS account was deleted on the MS servers, nor do I care.

Its my understanding from the literature I’ve seen that Windows 11 will require a MS account for set up.  Hopefully, one can then delete it after the installation in the same way I did.

Thanks for the article.

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Disconnect from the Internet before getting to that screen and it will allow you to create a local account.

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But not with Home on 11, so the point was that you should still be able to switch to a local account later.

Windows 11 Pro version 22H2 build 22621.1483 + Microsoft 365 + Edge

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Were you setting up on a Pro subscription?

My first W10 laptop I set up in 2017 and I was able to navigate to a local account easily.  In 2019 I set up a smaller one for travel, expecting the same story, but got blindsided by the issue where a Home setup would direct you to connect you to the Internet and remove the offline option.  It had changed in those years.

W11 isn’t even supposed to offer Home users the option of a local account at all, although the Alt-F4 trick is already circulating on Reddit.

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Here is a link to some more information concerning Local and Microsoft Accounts, and which might be best for your particular situation. I think individual users at home who are concerned about privacy issues generally choose to use a Local Account only, and Business type users prefer the benefits that the Microsoft Account enables. Opinions are all over the map though, and choosing which type should involve some research probably.

“Which Account Type Should You Choose?
A Microsoft account offers many features that a local account does not, but that doesn’t mean a Microsoft account is for everyone.”

The Difference Between Local and Microsoft Accounts in Windows
What’s best for your Windows experience
by Robert Kingsley – Updated on June 29, 2021 – Lifewire com

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I’ll only have a Local Account and so I’ll not be moving to Windows 11 from Windows 10 and I’ll have until Oct 2025 with that. But I only have one Windows 10 Laptop and that’s still running 10/1909 home and so that’s not allowed online but the Laptop is dual booting 10/1909 home and Linux Mint 20.1 so I use Mint for online currently while I make up my mind about updating Windows 10 any further.

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