Microsoft Accounts

Windows 11 supports three types of sign-in accounts: Microsoft accounts, work or school accounts, and local accounts. This book focuses largely on Microsoft accounts because they are the most common method by which individuals sign into the system. But we also cover work or school accounts and local accounts separately in their own chapters.

Local accounts are sometimes referred to as offline accounts to differentiate them from online accounts like Microsoft accounts and work or school accounts.

Microsoft account basics

In the before times, Windows users would create a local account when they first signed into a PC. But any configuration changes they subsequently made, or documents and other files they saved to that PC, would be unavailable when they used another computer.

Today, Windows is more sophisticated. Now, you can sign into Windows 11 with your Microsoft account instead. And because so much in Windows relies on you using this type of account, we assume, for the most part, that this is how you will be signing into Windows.

Some of the key benefits of using a Microsoft account include:

It’s more secure. Because you can configure your Microsoft account to require two-step authentication, there’s no need to remember complicated passwords. Using a Microsoft account is more secure than using a local account.

Some experiences require a Microsoft account. Some of the built-in experiences in Windows 11, like OneDrive integration, require a Microsoft account. If you sign into the PC with a Microsoft account, these experiences will work seamlessly. If you don’t, you may need to sign into them individually.

Many Microsoft Store apps require a Microsoft account. Many of the Microsoft Store apps that come with Windows 11—like the Microsoft Store and Movies & TV—require a Microsoft account as well. Yes, you can manually sign into those apps as needed, but when you sign into Windows 11 with your Microsoft account, those apps work seamlessly.

It provides some backup and settings sync capabilities. With a Microsoft account, you can automatically back up key system folders like Desktop, Documents, and Pictures. And some of your settings—including accessibility settings, saved passwords, language preferences, and more—are synced from PC to PC via your Microsoft account, providing a more consistent experience.

Some built-in Windows 11 apps don’t require a Microsoft account at all. For example, while the Mail and Calendar apps do require you to connect them with at least one online account, it doesn’t have to be a Microsoft account. In fact, you can connect only to a Gmail/Google account if you want.

Microsoft account security basics

Before you do anything else, you should make sure that the Microsoft account you are using with Windows 11 is as secure as possible.

Microsoft account security is a big topic, and one that is beyond the scope of this book. But you can and should spend time configuring the security of your account on the Microsoft Account website.

Recommended actions to take here include:

Use two-step authentication to further secure your account. You can use an authenticator app on your smartphone to approve sign in requests, either with a pop-up message, or by getting a code generated by the app. Two-step authentication will make your Microsoft account more secure, and it can help prevent your account from being stolen even if hackers figure out your password. To configure two-step authentication, navigate to Security > Additional security options.

Alternatively, you can configure two-step authentication for your Microsoft account directly from the the Microsoft Authenticator app, which is available for both Android and iPhone. Just open the app and tap the Add account “+” button.

Add phone numbers and other secondary forms of security info. You can and should add multiple phone numbers and email addresses to your account so that you can recover it if the account is hacked. You can use sign in preferences to ensure that only accounts and phone numbers you know to be safe can be used for this purpose. To configure this information, navigate to Security > Additional security options.

Don’t be a statistic: The right combination of security methods—using a Microsoft account with two-step authentication enabled, plus using a Windows Hello-based authentication method on each PC—will help ensure that your online account, personal information, and private data is always safe.

Manage your Microsoft account in Windows 11

You manage your Microsoft account—and other accounts—in Windows 11 using Accounts settings, which is found by opening the Settings app and navigating to Accounts.

This Settings page provides a dashboard of sorts to your Microsoft account, with a header at the top that includes links for your Microsoft Rewards and OneDrive storage and a larger area dedicated to any Microsoft 365 Family or Personal, or OneDrive storage subscription you might have.

What you see here will differ according to which service, if any, you pay for and the type of account you have. For example, as the owner of a Microsoft 365 Family subscription, you will see links related to the management of that subscription, each of which opens a page on the web.

Below this area, you will see links to a variety of Settings sub-pages in the “Account settings” section that are covered throughout this section of the book. Here, we will cover a few options that are directly related to Microsoft account management.

Configure a user picture

By default, your sign in account will use whatever photo is associated with your Microsoft account as its user picture. If you haven’t configured a photo, or would like to change it, you can do so in Settings > Accounts > Your info.

To do so, select “Open Camera” next to “Take a photo” or “Browse files” next to “Choose a file.” The former option will let you use your PC’s webcam to take a still shot. And the latter lets you find a photo you like using File Explorer. This is straightforward.

Convert your Microsoft account sign in to a local account

We don’t recommend doing this, but Windows 11 still lets you convert your Microsoft account sign in to a local account in Settings > Your info > Account settings. Doing so will remove your Microsoft account from the PC and replace it with a local account.

To be clear, this change will not impact your Microsoft account, just the sign in you use on this PC.

Please refer to the Local accounts chapter for more information about local accounts.

Configure sign in options

When you first configured Windows 11 using the Windows Setup Out of Box Experience (OOBE), you were required to create a PIN, a four- (or more) digit alphanumeric code so that you could sign into Windows 11 more easily than having to remember and type the potentially complex password associated with your Microsoft account.

A PIN is the simple form of Windows Hello sign in, but it’s not the only form: depending on the capabilities of your PC, you may also be able to sign in with facial or fingerprint recognition, and use a related feature called Dynamic Lock to automatically wake up and sleep your PC when you approach it or leave, making these conveniences even more convenient.

These features are all by selecting “Sign-in options” in Accounts settings.

Please refer to the Windows Hello and Dynamic Lock chapter for more information about these topics.

Configure online accounts for email, calendar, and contacts

In addition to sign in accounts, Windows 11 also supports other types of accounts that you will use in apps like Mail and Calendar. These types of accounts are created and managed in Email & accounts.

Please refer to the Online Accounts chapter for more information about the types of accounts you can use for email, calendar, and contacts and with other apps.

Add and configure other sign in accounts

Windows 11 also lets multiple people use the same PC. You do so by configuring multiple Microsoft account sign in accounts in Other users.

Please refer to the Multiple Accounts chapter for more information about creating, configuring, and using other sign in accounts.

Backup and sync

When you sign into Windows 11 with a Microsoft account, Windows 11 is configured to back up and sync a limited set of files, apps, and settings associated with that account. Using the poorly-named Windows backup settings—found in the Settings app by navigating to Accounts > Windows backup—you can configure these features.

The name Windows backup is confusing because there is a legacy application still available in Windows 11 called Windows Backup that creates a system image backup, a method to back up and recover the PC, which is unrelated to Microsoft account backup and sync.

Here, you can configure:

OneDrive folder backup. If you select “Set up syncing” next to “OneDrive folder syncing,” the OneDrive’s Manage folder backup window will appear so that you can determine whether your Desktop, Documents, and/or Pictures folders are synced through OneDrive.

This topic is discussed in Configure OneDrive folder backup in the OneDrive chapter.

Remember installed Microsoft Store apps. This feature, which is enabled by default, will make life easier if you have to perform a refresh operation using Reset this PC: any Microsoft Store apps or games you installed can be carried over to the new install when you refresh Windows. You can toggle this feature using the “Remember my apps” option.

Please refer to Refresh your PC for more information about that feature.

Remember some settings configurations. Like previous Windows versions, Windows 11 can sync a limited set of settings—accessibility settings, saved passwords, language preferences, and more—to your Microsoft account so that they can be restored when you sign in with that same account on a different PC. This is all configured with “Remember my preferences,” which can be expanded so you can determine which settings will sync.

Where did it go?

Yes, it’s a pretty short list. And yes, it’s even less usable than the similar feature—called settings sync—from Windows 10, which synced more settings than does Windows 11. For example, Windows 11 no longer syncs your your desktop theme and background, as before. And there are far more settings that do not sync. This is an area in which Microsoft could improve Windows dramatically but appears to be backpedaling.