What this does
Open account settings and local users management so you can separate daily work from administrator tasks.
Using an admin account for everything is common, but it increases the blast radius of bad downloads, scripts, browser exploits, and accidental changes.
In plain language, use a standard windows account for daily work and browsing matters because the main everyday account has admin rights all the time. People usually start looking this up when admin rights became the default during initial setup. Using an admin account for everything is common, but it increases the blast radius of bad downloads, scripts, browser exploits, and accidental changes.
How and why
In practice, use a standard windows account for daily work and browsing matters because the main everyday account has admin rights all the time. Using an admin account for everything is common, but it increases the blast radius of bad downloads, scripts, browser exploits, and accidental changes. A good next step is to review keep one admin account for setup and maintenance only. Then decide whether you only needed the explanation or whether you want a practical action page too.
You normally review use a standard windows account for daily work and browsing when you want to understand what Windows is doing, what changes it can influence, and whether it is relevant before you touch settings blindly. Useful things to notice first: keep one admin account for setup and maintenance only; browse and work from a standard account when practical; document recovery credentials before changing account roles; do not remove all admin accounts from the PC.
- open Other users settings
- create or keep one dedicated admin account
- change your everyday account to standard if it fits your workflow
- sign back in and confirm your normal apps still work