How to Add or Remove User Accounts from Groups in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
Information
This will show you how to limit the ability of users to be able to perform certain actions by adding or removing their user accounts from being a member of groups and the group's default rights and permissions. Belonging to a local group gives a user the rights and abilities to perform various tasks on the local computer.
You can add local user accounts, domain user accounts, computer accounts, and group accounts to local groups.
You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do this tutorial.
Warning
Be sure to always have at least one user account that is a member of the Administrators group. You will lose access to everything that a standard user (Users group) cannot open if you do not.
Note
The following table provides descriptions of the
default groups that are located in the Groups folder. The table also lists the
default user rights for each group. These user rights are assigned in the
local security policy.
OPTION ONE
Through "Users" Folder in Local Users and Groups
1. Open
Local Users and Groups, and click on the
Users folder in the left pane. (see screenshot below)
2. In the middle pane, double click on a
user account name that you want to add or remove a user from being a member of groups. (see screenshot above)
3. To Remove a User Account from being a Member of a Group
A) Click on the
Member Of tab. (see screenshot below)
B) Select (highlight) the group(s) that you want to remove the user from being a member of, and click on the
Remove button. (see screenshot above)
NOTE: You can press and hold the CTRL key to select more than one listed group.
C) When finished, click on
OK. (see screenshot below)
4. To Add a User Account to be a Member of a Group
A) Click on the
Member Of tab, and click on the
Add button. (see screenshot below)
B) Click on the
Advanced button. (see screenshot below)
C) Click on the
Find Now button. (see screenshot below)
D) In the bottom pane under
Search results, select the group(s) that you want to add the user account to be a member of and click on
OK. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You can press and hold the CTRL key to select more than one listed group
E) Click on
OK. (see screenshot below)
F) When finished, click on
OK. (see screenshot below)
5. When finished, close the Local Users and Groups window. (see screenshot below step 1)
OPTION TWO
Through "Groups" Folder in Local Users and Groups
1. Open
Local Users and Groups, and click on the
Groups folder in the left pane. (see screenshot below)
2. In the middle pane, double click on a
group that you want to add or remove a user account from being a member of. (see screenshot above)
3. To Remove a User Account from being a Member of a Group
A) Select (highlight) the user account name(s) that you want to remove the from being a member of this group, and click on the
Remove button. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You can press and hold the CTRL key to select more than one listed group.
B) When finished, click on
OK. (see screenshot below)
4. To Add a User Account to be a Member of a Group
A) Click on the
Add button. (see screenshot below)
B) Click on the
Advanced button. (see screenshot below)
C) Click on the
Find Now button. (see screenshot below)
D) In the bottom pane under
Search results, select the
user account name(s) that you want to add to be a member of this group and click on
OK. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You can press and hold the CTRL key to select more than one listed user account.
E) Click on
OK. (see screenshot below)
F) When finished, click on
OK. (see screenshot below)
5. When finished, close the Local Users and Groups window. (see screenshot below step 1)
OPTION THREE
Using an Elevated Command Prompt
1. Open an
elevated command prompt.
2. To Add a User Account to be a Member of a Group
A) In the elevated command prompt, type the command below and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
Note
You would substitute the items in red in the command below with this:
GroupName = The actual name of the group.
ComputerName = The
computer name or domain name that the user account is located on within quotes.
UserName = The actual name of the user account.
net localgroup "GroupName" ComputerName\UserName /add
For example: If I wanted to add the user account named Standard to be a member of the Administrators group on my computer named Brink-PC, I would type the command below and press Enter.
net localgroup "Administrators" Brink-PC\Standard /add
B) Go to step 4.
3. To Remove a User Account from being a Member of a Group
A) In the elevated command prompt, type the command below and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
Note
You would substitute the items in red in the command below with this:
GroupName = The actual name of the group.
ComputerName = The
computer name or domain name that the user account is located on within quotes.
UserName = The actual name of the user account.
net localgroup "GroupName" ComputerName\UserName /delete
For example: If I wanted to remove the user account named Standard from being a member of the Administrators group on my computer named Brink-PC, I would type the command below and press Enter.
net localgroup "Administrators" Brink-PC\Standard /delete
B) Go to step 4.
4. When finished, close the elevated command prompt.
That's it,
Shawn