Local account to windows account.

What happens to my local account when i log in to windows 11 for the first time? Can i couple my local account to my windows account or will it create a new username etc?

Check this tutorial:
Switch to Microsoft Account from Local Account in Windows 11

new one, new everything afaik

I installed all my Windows 10 and 11 computers with a local account. I can switch any time to a Microsoft account and later back to my local account. No big deal because the location of my user data stays the same. The only problem is remembering the login user name and passwords for each one.

If I started with a Microsoft account and then switched to a local account then it would probably be different. Here are the differences I found.

If you start with a local account then your user folder will the same as your user name. If you switch to a Microsoft account then the user folder will be the same as before.
For example, if you start with local account MisterEd then the user folder will be: C:\Users\MisterEd.
If change to Microsoft account MisterEd99@outlook.com then the user folder will still be C:\Users\MisterEd.

If you start with a Microsoft account then your user folder will be a truncated part of your Microsoft account name.
If you switch to a local account then the user folder will be the same as before.
For example, if you start with Microsoft account MisterEd99@outlook.com then the user folder might be: C:\Users\Miste. If change to local account MisterEd then the user folder will still be C:\Users\Miste.

To summarize, you can start with either a local account or a Microsoft account. The user folder be determined by which account you start with. You can always switch back and forth between local and Microsoft accounts.

fusionsynth said:

What happens to my local account when i log in to windows 11 for the first time? Can i couple my local account to my windows account or will it create a new username etc?

Click to expand...

As others have said, you can switch from a local to a MS account (and back again) as often, and whenever you like.

If you are setting up Windows for the first time on a new machine, or after a clean install, MS make it almost impossible to use a local account. There are ways around this and still use a local account, but MS are making it increasingly difficult.

MisterEd said:

If you start with a Microsoft account then your user folder will be a truncated part of your Microsoft account name.
If you switch to a local account then the user folder will be the same as before.

Click to expand...

I prefer to set up with a local account so I can choose the name it will use for my user folder.

MisterEd said:

You can always switch back and forth between local and Microsoft accounts.

Click to expand...

True, and I have done so a few times. But I prefer to have a local account. You can still get all the benefits of a MS account though, such as OneDrive. You can associate your MS account with a local account, which is how I set up all my machines.

fusionsynth said:

What happens to my local account when i log in to windows 11 for the first time? Can i couple my local account to my windows account or will it create a new username etc?

Click to expand...

When you create Local Account with Admin privileges and reboot for the first time, Windows sets up your User Profile and will list it under C:\Users\NewUserName. Under this profile with be the same User files as your MS Account, but they will be empty. (ie) Documents, Downloads, Desktop etc. You will have a clean Desktop with no icons, unless you have some that are for All Users installed (ie) Edge, etc
You can still access the files from your MS account under the C:\Users\MyMSAccount. If you want, you can copy the contents of these folders (ie) Desktop, Downloads, Documents from your MS account and paste them into your Local Account if you want to see the same stuff in the Local Account

If you use RUFUS to create your install media, you can stipulate a username and local account before Windows installs.

I like to create a "Hybrid Account". This is a local account, but still gives you access to all the Microsoft stuff needing Microsoft account sign-in.

Thanks guys, for your info!