Mar 2, 2010
My Digital Life Editorial Team

How to Disable or Deactivate User Account in Windows 7

Windows 7 operating system supports multiple user accounts creation, which can be assigned as either administrator or standard user account type, in addition to a guest account. However, after a user account is created, it’s only possible to be deleted or removed, and administrator cannot disable or deactivate the user account from within the Control Panel user interface.

Administrator may need to temporarily or permanently disable or deactivate a user account, without deleting or removing the user account completely from the system. In order to disable or deactivate user account, follow the following guide. Disabling a user account allows the account to be re-enable or re-activate in future, without loss of data.

  1. Go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools, and then open Computer Management.

    Alternatively, right click on Computer in Start menu, and select Manage.

  2. Expand Local Users and Groups branch.
  3. Click on Users section.
  4. Right click on the user to deactivate, and select Properties.
  5. Select and tick the check box for Account is disabled option.

    Disable User Account in Windows 7

  6. Click OK and close Computer Management window.
  7. The user account is now disabled, and no longer can be used to log on.

Tip: Uncheck the Account is disabled option to re-enable the user.

Alternative method is to use command line syntax of “net user”. To disable and make a user account inactive, open an elevated command prompt with administrator rights, and type the following command:

net user "user name" /active:no

Replace user name with the actual user name of the account to disable. Note that user name with space in between must be enclosed with quotation mark (“).

To reactivate the account to active status, just use the following command, as similar to enable the built-in super administrator account in Windows 7 and Vista:

net user "user name" /active:yes

More tips and tricks on using Windows 7 available.

Related posts:

  1. Turn Off or Disable User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista
  2. Enable or Disable Built-in Administrator Account in Windows Vista
  3. How to Create Hidden User Account (Hide User Account from Welcome Screen) in Windows
  4. How to Disable or Enable Vista User Access Control in Command Prompt
  5. Activate, Enable and Show Administrator Account in Vista Welcome Screen

4 Comments

  • Very nice explanation & useful

    Thank you

  • not find

    # Expand Local Users and Groups branch.

    # Click on Users section.

    OR

    the user name not found

  • as an single user, is it better to be always login as administrator. or should i delete or keep my single user account. (Win7)

    • I suggest that I plz use always a user account (even when you are the administrator) for the simple sake off security

Leave a comment

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

Subscribe

Free email subscriptions
Get latest updates in email for free:

Translate This Page