How to use the Net User command in Windows 10 – Easy Steps

Windows is a GUI-based operating system. Users get an easy-to-use interface for complex tasks like creating a new user and setting permissions for him, among other things. Many complex tasks are done with a few clicks, but many of them can be done from the command line.

Network user command

Windows 10 has many command line tools; Some tools, such as the ping tool, do not have a user interface and can only be used from the command line. The Diskpart tool is another great example of a command line tool, but it has a GUI equivalent application, namely the Disk Management utility.

Net User is a command line tool in Windows 10 that allows users to manage user accounts on the system. The tool supports all kinds of commands and switches that can be added to the main command to modify it.

The tool can be used for;

• Create a new user
• Delete an existing user
• Modify a user
• Change a user’s permissions
• Unlock the super administrator
• Set an expiration date for the account
• Force a user to change their password when they log in

The list is quite long of what you can use the tool for.

Use network user commands

To use the Net User utility, you must know what commands it will use and what those commands do. To get started;

1. Open command prompt with administrator rights.
2. Enter the network user and press Enter
3. This command will return all the users configured in the system.
4. You can modify the command with switches to perform other operations.
5. View user information

Net user [username]

Example

Net user fatiw

Create new user

Use this command to create a new user in which you must replace the username and password with the username of the new user and the password that you want to set for them. The brackets can go away, they are not part of the syntax.

net user [username] [password]

Delete a user

The above command can be modified to remove a user.

net user [username] /delete

Network user commands and switches

The Net User utility has a large number of commands and switches that it supports. You can read the full list and what they do in the official documentation published by Microsoft here.

To use them, follow this general syntax:

net user [ { | *} []] [/domain]

net user [ { | *} /add [] [/domain]]

net user [ [/delete] [/domain]]

The brackets are not part of the syntax and neither are the major and minor symbols, however the asterisk and the slash are part of the syntax and should not be removed.

conclusion

The Net User utility is best used to unblock or hide the super administrator user. Most users know that the GUI is a much easier way to create or modify a user account. Some operations, for example, the expiration of a user or forcing a user to change their password, may be easier to manage with this tool. Regardless, you have to be careful about this as you may end up deleting a user and their files.