October 25, 2026

Windows 10 Can’t Add New User Account: Creating Another Account When Settings Gets in the Way

You want to set up an account for a family member, a guest, or a clean test profile, but Settings keeps demanding a Microsoft account email, crashes, or the button simply does nothing. When YYPAUS Login Windows 10 can’t add new user account, sharing the PC or troubleshooting a damaged profile becomes harder.

Windows encourages Microsoft accounts for new users. The option to create an ordinary local account still exists, but it sits behind two easily missed links.

If the Settings page itself is broken, Windows also has older tools that create accounts reliably.

Only an administrator can add accounts, so confirm your own account type before starting.

Why This Happens

Adding an account fails for these reasons:

• Settings asks for an email address, and the local account route is hidden.
• The Settings app is damaged and closes when you select Add.
• Your account is a standard user without administrator rights.
• A policy on a managed PC blocks new accounts.

Check Settings > Accounts > Your info to see whether your account says Administrator.

Start With These Basic Checks

Use the hidden local account option.

1. Open Settings > Accounts > Family & other users.
2. Select “Add someone else to this PC.”
3. When asked for an email or phone number, choose “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information.”
4. On the next page, choose “Add a user without a Microsoft account.”
5. Enter a user name, password, and three security questions, then select Next.

To give the new user administrator rights, select the account on the same page, choose “Change account type,” and pick Administrator.

Going a Step Further

Use alternative tools if Settings fails.

1. Press Windows + R, type netplwiz, and select Add. Follow the “Sign in without a Microsoft account” and “Local account” links.
2. Alternatively, open Command Prompt as administrator and run net user NewName /add, replacing NewName with the user name you want, then set a password with net user NewName *.
3. To make it an administrator, run net localgroup administrators NewName /add.
4. If Settings keeps crashing, run sfc /scannow and DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth.
5. Sign out and test the new account.

The first sign-in to a new account takes a minute or two while Windows prepares the profile.

A Word of Caution

Give every account a password, and grant administrator rights only to people who need them. On work devices, ask IT before adding accounts. Avoid typing passwords directly in commands on shared PCs, since they can be seen on screen.

Final Thoughts

Adding a user usually works through the hidden “without a Microsoft account” route. When Settings fails, netplwiz and Command Prompt create accounts just as effectively.