If you are seeing the guest account in Windows 10, you can delete or disable it quite easily. Follow the below steps to delete the guest account in Windows 10.
In case you don’t know, the guest user account is a built-in Windows account that is automatically created while installing Windows. By default, the guest account is disabled. When you want to share your computer to other users, you can enable the guest account and give them that account instead of your user account.
Compared to a regular Windows user account, a guest account is very limited. For example, when using a guest account, a user will not be able to make any system changes, install programs, or access private or system files.
Though you can delete a regular user account in normal ways, it requires you to follow different steps to delete a guest account. Let me show you how.
— Warning —
- Unless you are 100% sure and know what you are doing, I don’t recommend deleting the Guest account.
- Deleting the built-in guest account in Windows 10 is not a natural action and requires you to edit system files. Follow the steps at your own risk.
Important: Before proceeding, create a system restore point. If possible, create a full system backup. Doing so will let you restore the system if anything bad happens.
Steps to Delete Guest Account in Windows
To delete the guest account in Windows 10, we need to edit the registry. So, backup registry before making any changes.
1. First, search for “Registry Editor” in the start menu and open it.
2. In the registry editor, copy the following path, paste it in the address bar and press Enter. You will be taken to the target folder.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SAM\SAM
3. By default, the SAM folder is a protected system registry key. As such, it will not show any information even if you are an administrator. So, the first thing we need to do is get permission. Right-click on the “SAM” folder and select “Permissions” option.
4. In the permissions window, select the “Administrator” user and then select the “Full Control” checkbox under Permissions for Administrator. Click on the “Ok” button to confirm changes.
5. In the main window, go to “View” tab and select the “Refresh” option. Alternatively, you can also press the F5 key on your keyboard.
6. Now, enter the following path in the address bar and press Enter. You will be instantly taken to the Guest user folder.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SAM\SAM\Domains\Account\Users\Names\Guest
7. Select the “Guest” folder on the left panel, right-click on it and select the “Delete” option.
8. Click “Yes” in the confirmation window.
9. You’ve deleted the Guest folder from the registry.
10. Restart Windows.
With that, you’ve successfully deleted the Guest user account from Windows.
To verify, search for “lusrmgr.msc” in the start menu and open it. Next, go to the “Users” folder. Here, you will see all the user accounts and their details. If there is no “Guest” account in the list then the steps are successful.
If you ever want to revert back, restore the registry or use the system restore point and you will be good.
That is all. It is that simple to delete Guest user account from Windows 10. Like I said before, only follow the steps if you know what you are doing.