Sometimes you need to have one or more accounts on your Surface for things like family members or guests that don’t need a full-blown Microsoft account with an email address and OneDrive access.
Accounts like that are called Local Accounts and can be very handy to have on your Surface for things like the examples above. In addition, they are really good to allow you to test new software or tweaks without risking your “real” account data.
So, in this article, we’re going to cover how to create a local account step-by-step.
These Instructions are for Windows 8.1 and above running on a Surface RT, Surface 2, Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2 or Surface Pro 3. If you are running Windows 8.0 the instructions may need to be modified slightly to work.
How To: Create a local Account on your Surface
- Open the Charm bar (swipe in from the right side)
- Tap The Settings charm (the gear)
- Tap Change PC Settings
- When the Settings screen appears, select Accounts
- Select Other accounts then Tap Add an account
- When the asked How will this person sign in? tap Sign in without a Microsoft account
- A screen will appear that explains the difference between a Microsoft account and a Local account. Review then tap Local account
- At the next screen enter a name for the new account (In this case, I’m building a Kiosk machine for my day job so, we’ll go with Kiosk) then enter and re-enter a password for your new account along with a password hint. Tap Next
- There is a check box labeled Is this a child’s account? Turn on Family Safety to get reports of their PC use. Family Safety is a handy feature and if this account is for a child, you may want to consider enabling it.
- Tap Finish to complete the process.
You now have an account on your Surface that does not have an associated e-mail or OneDrive account.
I hope you found these instructions helpful.
Tim