Windows Help and Advice - USA (2019-06)

/HʋʢɚKʝɦWɛ

Master sign-in options

in Windows 10

“SigningintoWindowsis somethingyoudosofrequently

thatyouprobablydon’tgiveit a secondthought,but

therearelotsof extraoptionsworthknowingabout”

ou’dthinkthatusingyourPC

wouldbesimple– youjust

turnit onandgetdownto

whateveryouneedtodo,right?But

thereareuseraccountstothink

about.Withsecurityinmind,andthe

assumptionthatyourPCmaybeused

byseveralpeople,Windows 10 hasa

useraccountsystemthatkeepsyour

filesseparatefromothers’and

ensuresno-oneaccessesyourdata.

Butthisisn’tassimpleasit sounds.

Youneedtochoosebetweena local

accountanda Microsoftaccount.You

needtochoosewhetheruserdata

shouldbesynchronisedbetween

computers.Youneedtochoose

betweenusinga password,a PIN,or

otheroptions.Thereis actuallyquite

a lottoconsider.

If youhavebeenconfusedabout

wheretostartwithuseraccounts,

we’rewithyou.Microsofthasn’t

exactlymadethingsclear,andthisis

whywe’veputtogetherthisguide.

1 Microsoftaccountvslocalaccount

WhenyoufirstsetupyourPCandcreateda useraccount,

youwillhavebeenaskedtochoosebetweenusinga local

accountora Microsoftaccount.Usingthelatterenablesyouto

synchronisesettingsbetweenPCs.GotoSettings> Accounts>

‘Yourinfo’toseeyou’reusinga localaccount,click‘Signinwith

a MicrosoftAccountinstead’andfollowtheinstructions.

2 Requirepasswordonwake

If youstepawayfromyourPCfora fewminutes,it maygo

tosleep.Dependingonthesettingsyouhaveinplace,someone

elsemaybeabletoaccessyouraccountwithouthavingtoenter

a password– soit’sa goodideatosecureit.Click‘Sign-inoptions’

intheleft-handpane,thenclickthedrop-downmenuunder

‘Requiresign-in’.Selectthe‘WhenPCwakesfromsleep’option.

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Step-by-step Windows 10 sign-inoptionsrevealed

Anyonecandoit

Straightforward

Trickyin parts

Windows 10

Windows8.1

Windows 7

At a glance

Skill level...

Suitable for...

Image credit: Microsoft

34 |^ |^ June 2019