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Do you need to add new users to a Windows PC? If you're writing a script , signed in remotely, or just prefer the command line, you can use simple commands to add new users, set passwords, and even grant administrator permissions using CMD, or the command prompt. This wikiHow guide will teach you the easiest way to add local users to Windows from the command prompt .
Things You Should Know
- You'll need to run the Command Prompt as an administrator to add and manage users.
- Use the command net user username password /add to create a new user from the command line.
- Or you can just create user account without password and add password later using command net user username * and you will prompted to write password and confirm it does not display when typing.
- To give a new user administrative rights, use net localgroup administrators username /add .
Steps
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Open Start . Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
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Right-click Command Prompt. It should be at the top of the Start window. Right-clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.
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Click Run as administrator . This is in the drop-down menu.
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Click Yes when prompted. Doing so opens the Command Prompt window.
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Type in the "add user" command. The "add user" command uses the net user username password /add format, where " username " is the name you want to use for the user and "password" is the password you want to assign to the account.
- For example, to add a user named "Michael" with the password "hello123", you would enter net user Michael hello123 /add here.
- If you don't want to use a password for the account, don't type in a password—just enter net user username /add instead.
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Press ↵ Enter . Doing so runs the command and begins creating the user account.
- Once you see the phrase "The command completed successfully" appear, your user has been added.
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Grant the user administrator permissions. If you want to turn the user account into an administrator account, type net localgroup administrators username /add into Command Prompt—making sure to replace "username" with the name of the account you want to change—and press ↵ Enter .
- For example, to make a user account named "Michael" an administrator, you would type in net localgroup administrators Michael /add and press ↵ Enter .
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Community Q&A
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QuestionHow do I open a laptop password?Community AnswerAccess that account to reset your password. Boot your computer and press F8 repeatedly. Access Safe Mode. Key in "Administrator" in Username, with no password. Go to Control Panel, then User Accounts. Select the account you want to reset the password. Change the password.
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QuestionWhen I type user name and password it says access is denied. What should I do?Community AnswerYou have to run command prompt as an administrator. Right click the icon and click run as administrator.
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QuestionWhy am I seeing a message that says my local group isn't there if I am being stopped at the point of entering the command line into the second stage of this process?Community AnswerCheck which language you are using. The local group is probably a bit different.
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Tips
- Using Command Prompt to create a user will always create a standard (non-administrator) user by default.Thanks
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Warnings
- If you aren't on an administrator account, you cannot use Command Prompt to add a user.Thanks
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Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,143,431 times.
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