Local account deleted?

Hi,

My computer crashed and when it rebooted, it required me to login with my Microsoft account.
Now, this computer has had a local account since I got it 5 or 6 years ago. I have never used the Microsoft account
on this computer.

Trying to switch back to the local user using guides on this site, that local account apparently doesn't exist anymore.

I'm obviously concerned that it deleted an account on its own. How do I get the account back? Creating a new one is
easy enough, but are there any permission issues? I have enough of those between Windows 10, and the previous 7 installation.

Thanks for any help.

Kelly

It sounds like you have converted your local account to a MS account. This doesn't delete the local account - it just gives you a different way of signing on.

For example if I had a local account called Fred with a password 12345 there would be a folder C:\Users\Fred

If I converted this to George.Clooney@outlook.com with password ABCD then you would still only have the folder C:\Users\Fred. Your local permissions will be the same but only your ID and your password to access the same thing will have changed. The original logon Fred and it's password no longer exists.

This is quite easy to do by mistake - if you use one of the built in apps and don't read everything carefully it will switch you.

Have a look in C:\Users directory and see what you have.

lx07 said:

It sounds like you have converted your local account to a MS account. This doesn't delete the local account - it just gives you a different way of signing on.

For example if I had a local account called Fred with a password 12345 there would be a folder C:\Users\Fred

If I converted this to George.Clooney@outlook.com with password ABCD then you would still only have the folder C:\Users\Fred. Your local permissions will be the same but only your ID and your password to access the same thing will have changed. The original logon Fred and it's password no longer exists.

This is quite easy to do by mistake - if you use one of the built in apps and don't read everything carefully it will switch you.

Have a look in C:\Users directory and see what you have.

Yes, the original c:\users\kelly is still there. I'm pretty sure I didn't convert the account by mistake.
So the question is, how do I get back? Can I just create a local account?

kelly

No, if the only account is kelly then you don't need to do anything.

If you want to use a local account rather than a MS account you just convert it back.

Don't make another account - it will only confuse things. You would end up with:

C:\Users\Kelly
C:\Users\Kelly2
C:\Users\Kelly3 (and so on)

The question is do you know the password of Kelly@hotmail.com or whatever?

lx07 said:

No, if the only account is kelly then you don't need to do anything.

If you want to use a local account rather than a MS account you just convert it back.

Don't make another account - it will only confuse things. You would end up with:

C:\Users\Kelly
C:\Users\Kelly2
C:\Users\Kelly3 (and so on)

The question is do you know the password of Kelly@hotmail.com or whatever?

Yes. But I don't see an option to convert it back. And my searches indicate it needs a reset. Which seems extreme.

Have you tried this?

Local Account - Switch to in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

You should be able to switch back by putting in your email address password and then makeing up a new password for your local account.

Please try it and say at what point you get stuck...

lx07 said:

Have you tried this?

Local Account - Switch to in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

You should be able to switch back by putting in your email address password and then makeing up a new password for your local account.

Please try it and say at what point you get stuck...

that worked, but as I mentioned originally, i didn't think creating a new account would be an issue.
i have to admit i'm impressed with how integrated the accounts are.

Ok, we'll consider this one solved.

Thanks for your help!

Kelly

kfergason said:

that worked, but as I mentioned originally, i didn't think creating a new account would be an issue.
i have to admit i'm impressed with how integrated the accounts are.

You can swap them back and forward as you wish.

You are lucky your name is 5 letters long by the way as it is the perfect length for Microsoft. Otherwise you would end up with C:\Users\Kell_0001 or C:\Users\KellF or some such thing :)