/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