I want to create a 2nd local Windows (10) user account for a service tech

Question

I want to create a 2nd local Windows (10) user account for a service tech

Anonymous 40

I can figure out how to create a 2nd local user account for Windows 10, but have a couple of questions:

I have ONE account on my laptop now, mine, and it has Administrator privileges and requires a password. In the User Accounts dialog, "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" is turned ON. If I turn that OFF in order to create a new local account for a service tech to use - does that DELETE my existing account's password?
If I create a new local user account called "Service" with no password - they can only see what it beneath their user profile folder, correct? Will they still be able to enter the BIOS, etc., in order to do any diagnostics that they need to do?

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Answer 1

EmilyS726 212.1K Independent Advisor

Hello

To answer your questions -

Why do you want to turn off password requirement? I would imagine you want to password protect your current admin user, right? If so, make sure you don't do that for your current user.
If the new local user is NOT admin type, they will not be able to see content in your profile. But if you give them admin right, they can. You can set up this local user without a password, and they can just leave password field blank to enter it.

Anonymous 40 Reputation points

2026-02-21T22:43:18.1633333+00:00

Your response to #1 combined with the AI response shows me that I do NOT want to turn off password requirements. I was hoping it would turn them off for any subsequently-created users but do not want to have it impact my current account - so I won't be doing that.

As for #2 - I wanted to set up a new local user and leave the password field blank, but the process wouldn't move forward from that screen if I left the password blank! It seems like having "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" turned ON is certainly forcing me to set a password for the new local non-admin user, unfortunately.
EmilyS726 212.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-21T22:46:35.8266667+00:00

Ah I see what's going here.

For #2, Go ahead and create a new user with a password. Then sign into your own admin user, then hold down Win+R keys, type in netplwiz. First, select the new user, then uncheck the box that requires username and password. When you click Apply, a pop up will come up. Make sure the username matches the local user name (the new one you created), then enter the password you created. Then click OK.

This will allow anyone clicking on the 2nd user during Windows log in and automatically signing them in without needing to enter password. This will not affect your user, just the 2nd user.
Anonymous 40 Reputation points

2026-02-21T22:49:45.9366667+00:00

Sounds like an excellent plan. I'll do that and report back only if I have a problem.

Thanks for the help!
EmilyS726 212.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-02-21T22:59:24.81+00:00

You are welcome.
Anonymous 40 Reputation points

2026-02-26T01:11:11.3366667+00:00

@EmilyS726 Well, removal of the password of the Service user didn't seem to work (and "Service" is a reserved word and could not be used as a username). Now, interestingly, after logging in as that new user and being assured that it only had access to its own files/folders, I logged out and back in as myself. Now, when I run netplwiz, I cannot even select the new user, from the list, to try again to eliminate its password.

I'll reboot and hope that helps, but it seems not worth it to create a password-less user.

Answer 2

Turning off the option "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" does not delete your existing account's password. It simply allows users to log in without entering a password. Your current account will still retain its password, but it will not be required for logging in if this option is disabled.
If you create a new local user account called "Service" with no password, that account will only have access to its own user profile folder and not to other users' files or folders. However, the ability to enter the BIOS is not determined by the user account type in Windows. Typically, any user can access the BIOS during the boot process by pressing a specific key (like F2, DEL, or ESC) before the operating system loads, regardless of their Windows account privileges. Therefore, the service tech should still be able to enter the BIOS for diagnostics as needed.

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I want to create a 2nd local Windows (10) user account for a service tech

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