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Disconnect a Microsoft Account from your Windows 8 Login

In today’s Ask the Admin, I’ll show you how to disconnect a Microsoft account from a Windows 8 login.

When setting up a user account in Windows 8 for the first time, Microsoft encourages you to provide details of a Microsoft account, such as those used to access Outlook.com, so that Windows can automatically log you in to Microsoft services and synchronize OneDrive files.

While this provides a convenient computing experience, not everybody wants this functionality, and at any time, you can disconnect a Microsoft account from your local Windows login using the PC Settings app in Windows 8.1.

Disconnect a Microsoft account

Log into Windows 8 using the account you want to modify, and follow the instructions below:

Press WIN+C to open the Charms Bar.
On the Charms Bar, click Settings.
On the Settings panel, click Change PC settings.
In the PC Settings app, click Accounts in the left panel.
Make sure that Your account is selected on the left.
On the right of the app, click Disconnect under your Microsoft Account email address.
On the Switch to a local account screen, type your current password, and click Next.

Change to a local account in Windows 8 (Image Credit: Russell Smith)

Enter information as prompted so that Windows can create a local account. A username will be suggested, which you can change, but you’ll need to enter and confirm a password, and a password hint. Click Next when you’re done.
To complete the procedure, click Sign out and finish.

Now when you sign back in, you will be using a local account. In much the same way as we disconnected a Microsoft account from a Windows 8 login above, you can also reconnect a Microsoft account.