Microsoft highly recommends all its Windows 10 users to sign in with an online Microsoft account to access all its features. Sure, a Microsoft account is essential if you’re looking to download apps from the Microsoft Store, sync your data across your devices, and access other online features, but not everyone relies on these features. Some people like to have the additional sense of privacy that a local user account can provide. Unfortunately, upon fresh installation of Windows 10, you’re forced to either sign in with an existing Microsoft account or create a new one. Hence, almost everyone creates an online Microsoft account unless they clicked the hidden back menu to set up a local account.
Having said that, if you do wish to stop using your Microsoft account without worrying about losing access to the online features, you can indeed do that at any point, and it’s pretty easy too. This can be achieved by simply switching your account to a local user account. Here, we’ll be going through the various steps on how to sign out of Microsoft account on Windows 10.
Sign Out of Microsoft Account Windows 10 by Switching to Local Account
Microsoft has made it simple for its users to sign out of Microsoft account and stay away from all the cloud features that an online account can deliver. These options can be accessed from your system settings, no matter which builds of Windows 10 your PC is currently running. So, without further ado, let’s check out the procedure:
Step 1. Use the search field in the Windows taskbar to browse for the Settings app. Click on ‘Settings’ from the results. Alternatively, you can press the ‘Windows + I’ keys on your keyboard to quickly bring up the Settings menu.
Step 2. In the settings menu, click on the ‘Accounts’ option to get started.
Step 3. Now, make sure you’re in the ‘Your Info’ section using the left pane. You’ll see your Microsoft account’s profile picture and email address here. Right below, you’ll find the option ‘Sign in with a local account instead.’ Click on it to proceed.
Step 4. You’ll now get a pop-up menu within settings. This is just a warning from Microsoft informing you about what you’ll missing out on when you switch to a local account. Click on ‘Next.’
Step 5. Windows will prompt you to enter the PIN that you use to sign in to your computer. Type it in to proceed to the next step.
Step 6. Now, you’ll get access to the menu to set up your local user account. Give a preferred username, type in a suitable password, give a hint, and then click on ‘Next.’
Step 7. Windows will now inform you to save all your existing work before you complete the process. Just click on ‘Sign out and finish’ when you’re done to complete the procedure.
There you go. You’ve successfully logged out of your Microsoft account and switched to a local user account on Windows 10.
Bottomline
Now that you’re done, some of you may have concerns over installing apps from the Microsoft Store. Fortunately, you can still sign in to Microsoft Store from your local user account without affecting anything else and sign out whenever you don’t need it. You will miss out on the rest of the online features, as we mentioned earlier, but if you ever change your mind, you can head back to the same settings menu and sign in with your Microsoft account within seconds.
Another way to switch between a Microsoft account and a local account at your convenience is by creating a new local user account on your Windows 10. We’ve covered that already, so you can learn more about it if you’re interested. Regardless of the route you take, you’re pretty much doing the same thing, which is account switching.
We hope you were able to finally learn how to sign out of your Microsoft account on Windows 10 for the added sense of security that only a completely local account can provide. Do you switch between your online and local user accounts? Do you know any other way to sign out of your Microsoft account? If so, feel free to share your ideas and leave your personal thoughts in the comments section down below.
