How: Enable and Disable Built-in Guest Account on Windows 8/10/11

By Achilles Hill | Last Updated January 03, 2024

There is a built-in guest account on your Windows, which can help people who do not have an account on the computer to log in. Of course, you can turn it on or off. This article will introduce some useful methods to enable and disable the built-in Guest account in Windows 8/10/11 computer for your better reference.

• Part 1: How to Enable the Built-in Guest Account?
• Part 2: How to Disable the Built-in Guest Account?

Part 1: How to Enable the Built-in Guest Account?

Way 1: Enable the account in the Local Group Policy

Step 1: Open Local Group Policy Editor.

Step 2: Find and open the policy named "Accounts: Guest account status".

In detail, it is located in Computer Configuration/Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options.

Step 3: Select Enabled and click OK to enable guest account.

Way 2: Enable Guest account in Computer Management

Step 1: Open Computer Management.

Press Windows+R to open Run, type compmgmt.msc and click OK to open it.

Step 2: Double click the Guest to open the properties. You can locate Guest in Local Users and Groups>Users.

Step 3: Deselect Account is disabled and click OK in the Guest Properties dialog to enable it.

Way 3: Enable the built-in Guest account via Command Prompt

Step 1: Run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2: To enable this account, type "net user guest /active:yes" (without quotes) and press Enter.

Part 2: How to Disable the Built-in Guest Account?

Method 1: Disable Guest account in Computer Management.

Step 1: Open Run dialog box by Windows+R keys, type compmgmt.msc and tap OK (or press Enter) to open Computer Management.

Step 2: Find and open Users folder. In Local Users and Groups, you can locate it immediately.

Step 3: Right-click Guest account on the right and choose Properties in the context menu.

Step 4: Check the box before Account is disabled and click OK in the Guest Properties window.

Method 2: Disable Guest account in Local Group Policy Editor.

Step 1: Access Local Group Policy Editor.

Step 2: Follow the path of Computer Configuration/Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options to locate and open the "Accounts: Guest account status" policy.

Step 3: In the policy's Properties window, select Disabled and tap OK.

Method 3: Disable Guest account in Computer Management

Step 1: Run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2: Input "net user guest /active:no" (without quotes) and hit Enter to disable it.

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