How to Add Local Users and Groups in Windows 7

How to Add Local Users and Groups in Windows 7
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How to Create a User Group

The first step in managing local users and groups in Windows 7 is creating a user group. Open the Microsoft Management Console. Click Start and type mmc into the Search box. Press Enter or select mmc.exe from the resulting list under Programs. Click Yes or enter your administrator password if prompted by the UAC.

Select Local Users and Groups in the left pane of the Microsoft Management Console window. If Local Users and Groups is not listed, ensure that you are using Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate edition. If you are but the option is missing, go to the File menu of the Console window and select Add/Remove Snap-in. Select Local Users and Groups and click Add. Select Local Computer and click Finish. Click OK to close the dialog.

Once you have added and selected Local Users and Groups, double-click the Groups folder in the main window. Select Action and click New Group. Enter a name and a description for the group and click Add. Enter the name of the user account, click the Check Names button and click OK. Click Create.

How to Add a User Account to a Group

Local users and groups in Windows 7

Once you have created a user group, you can begin adding user accounts to the group. Adding user accounts to a group allows you to instantly grant the same rights and permissions to all of the users at one time. User accounts in a user group all have identical access to network services such as printers and folders.

Open the Microsoft Management Console as described in the previous section. Click on Local Users and Groups in the left pane of the Console window. Double-click the Groups folder in the main area of the window. Right-click the user group name to which you want to add user accounts.

Select Add to Group from the contextual menu. Click the Add button and type the name of the first user account you want to add. Click the Check Names button. Click OK to add the user account. Click OK again to close the dialog.

Select Add to Group from the contextual menu. Click the Add button and type the name of the first user account you want to add. Click the Check Names button. Click OK to add the user account. Click OK again to close the dialog.

You can add user accounts to more than one user group. Standard and Administrator groups are the most common group types, but you can create custom groups as well, choosing which rights you want to grant to users in that group. You may wish to avoid adding too many users to the Administrators group. In fact, adding only those who absolutely require this type of access is strongly recommended. User accounts added to this group will have access to all files on the network, can change passwords for other users, and may install any software without additional permission.