A Microsoft account has some advantages, but a local account is fine for Windows 11. Microsoft doesn't make it easy to set up a local account on a new PC. There are workarounds, but they depend on ...

The shift from local-only user accounts in Windows to Microsoft accounts wasn’t great for many reasons, and one of them is that your home folder would always have the same name as your email address.

Josh Hawkins has been writing about science, gaming, and tech culture for over a decade. He's a top-rated reviewer with extensive experience helping people find the best deals on tech and more. Using ...

One of Windows 11’s more contentious changes is that, by default, both the Home and Pro editions of the operating system require users to sign in with a Microsoft account during setup. Signing in with ...

Microsoft really doesn’t want you creating a local account on Windows 11. Microsoft really doesn’t want you creating a local account on Windows 11. is a senior correspondent and author of Notepad, who ...

There are plenty of people, for plenty of reasons, who really don’t want to sign into their copy of Windows 11 using a Microsoft account, no matter how seamless an experience this brings to the ...

Of the many minor to medium-size annoyances that come with a modern Windows 11 installation, the requirement that you sign in with a Microsoft account is one of the most irritating. Sure, all ...