How to change a Windows 10 user account type and why you might want to

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If you have to extend or restrict user control on a device, you can quickly complete this task by changing the account type, and here's how on Windows 10.

How to change user account type using PowerShell

To change a Windows 10 account type with PowerShell, use these steps:

  1. Open Start.
  2. Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
  3. Type the following command to change the account type to "Standard User" and press Enter:Remove-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" -Member "ACCOUNT-NAME"In the command, make sure to change the ACCOUNT-NAME for the actual name of the account that you want to change. If you're trying to change an account using a Microsoft account, then the account name would be the first five letters of the email address.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)
  1. Type the following command to change the account type to "Administrator" and press Enter:Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" -Member "ACCOUNT-NAME"In the command, make sure to change the ACCOUNT-NAME for the actual name of the account that you want to change.Quick note: Users with administrator accounts are part of both, the "Administrators" and "Users" groups. As a result, to make a user standard, you only need to remove the user from the "Administrators" group.

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

After you complete the steps, the account type will switch to the Administrator or Standard group depending on your configuration.

Mauro Huculak
Mauro Huculak
Windows How-To Expert

Mauro Huculak has been a Windows How-To Expert contributor for WindowsCentral.com for nearly a decade and has over 22 years of combined experience in IT and technical writing. He holds various professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and CompTIA and has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years.