How to Disable Windows 7 User Account

How to Disable Windows 7 User Account

Windows 7 operating system supports multiple user accounts creation, either as administrator or standard user account type that can be allocated in addition to a guest account.

But after an account is created, it can only be deleted or removed and administrator can not disable or turn off the user account from the Control Panel user interface. Administrator must disable may be temporarily or permanently, or disable a user account without deleting it or removing the user’s account completely from the system.

To turn off or disable user account, follow the following instructions. Disable a user account, you can activate or reactivate the account again in the future without loss of data.

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

1. 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.

Select and tick the check box for Account is disabled option.

1. Click OK and close Computer Management window.
2. 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: