How can I as the admin use my same proton.me email as the email for all PC admin accounts at my office?

Question

How can I as the admin use my same proton.me email as the email for all PC admin accounts at my office?

Anonymous

Hello,

I have two Windows 11 Pro computers and two Windows 10 computers. I will upgrade the Windows 10 to Windows 11 after I fix this admin log-in challenge.

Microsoft did something unexplainable that prevented me from accessing both my microsoft live.com email and my microsoft email server proprietary business name email. It said I can only use my cell phone as security access for one or the other. So I am abandoning the live.com email. I just changed the admin credential for one of the Windows 11 computers from live.com to proton.me because I can easily access the proton.me email. The second Windows 11 computer will not allow me to change to the proton.me user ID. The message I get in red letters is "The email address is already taken. Please try another."

The two Windows 10 computers still use the live.com email as my admin ID, so I will need to change them also.

I am the only admin. I don't want to create unique admin emails for each computer since I already had to create a unique "outlook.com" email for each one when first setting up the computers years ago. I want to use a proton.me email because I have easy access to it. I do not have easy access the all the unique outlook.com emails that we never use.

A clear, yes, you can do what you want, and this is the step by step to do it, would be greatly appreciated.

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3 answers

Answer 1

Anonymous

Will not allow me to use my password when trying to log in with the proton.me email.

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Answer 2

Hello,

Yes, you can have all four PCs use the very same Proton.me address as your administrator login. What you need to do is treat that Proton address as a single Microsoft Account and then convert each machine's admin user over to it. Here's how:

First, make sure your Proton.me address is set up as a valid Microsoft Account. If you haven't already done so on account.microsoft.com, choose "Create account", type in your Proton address and follow the prompts to verify it. If you already used that address on your first Windows 11 machine, you're all set.

On each of your other machines, sign in with any admin you still have local or under the old Outlook.com account. Open Settings, go to Accounts then Your info. Instead of "Add someone else to this PC", choose the link that says "Sign in with a Microsoft account instead". When Windows prompts you, enter your Proton.me address and the password you set up at Microsoft Account. Complete any two-factor challenge (it may ask to send a code to your phone or to that Proton mailbox) and Windows will convert that local or old-Outlook admin into your new Proton-backed Microsoft Account.

If it still won’t accept it, temporarily switch your current admin to a local account (Settings > Accounts > Your info > Switch to local account), reboot, then immediately go back and "Sign in with a Microsoft account instead" using Proton.

For your two Windows 10 PCs the process is identical. From Settings > Accounts > Your info select "Sign in with a Microsoft account instead" and link your Proton address. After you finish on all four, each machine will show exactly the same email under its admin profile, and you'll log in everywhere with that one Proton.me Microsoft Account.

Hi Francisco,

Thank you for your reply. There is a conflict at the following step that was provided:

Instead of "Add someone else to this PC", choose the link that says "Sign in with a Microsoft account instead".

I am not given the option to "Sign in with a Microsoft account instead." I am only given the options to "Sign in with a local account instead."

I am still hopeful these challenges can be overcome.

Ed Stewart

Answer 3

Hello,

Yes, you can have all four PCs use the very same Proton.me address as your administrator login. What you need to do is treat that Proton address as a single Microsoft Account and then convert each machine's admin user over to it. Here's how:

First, make sure your Proton.me address is set up as a valid Microsoft Account. If you haven't already done so on account.microsoft.com, choose "Create account", type in your Proton address and follow the prompts to verify it. If you already used that address on your first Windows 11 machine, you're all set.

On each of your other machines, sign in with any admin you still have local or under the old Outlook.com account. Open Settings, go to Accounts then Your info. Instead of "Add someone else to this PC", choose the link that says "Sign in with a Microsoft account instead". When Windows prompts you, enter your Proton.me address and the password you set up at Microsoft Account. Complete any two-factor challenge (it may ask to send a code to your phone or to that Proton mailbox) and Windows will convert that local or old-Outlook admin into your new Proton-backed Microsoft Account.

If it still won’t accept it, temporarily switch your current admin to a local account (Settings > Accounts > Your info > Switch to local account), reboot, then immediately go back and "Sign in with a Microsoft account instead" using Proton.

For your two Windows 10 PCs the process is identical. From Settings > Accounts > Your info select "Sign in with a Microsoft account instead" and link your Proton address. After you finish on all four, each machine will show exactly the same email under its admin profile, and you'll log in everywhere with that one Proton.me Microsoft Account.

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How can I as the admin use my same proton.me email as the email for all PC admin accounts at my office?

3 answers