My system locked up then crashed now my local account is gone, and I have to use my MS log in, how do I get my local log in back?

If your local account is missing after a system crash, you may need to recreate it. Here are the steps to create a new local account in Windows 11:

1. Open Settings: Press Windows + I to open the Settings app.
2. Accounts: Click on the Accounts section.
3. Family & other users: Select Family & other users from the left sidebar.
4. Add someone else to this PC: Under the Other users section, click on Add someone else to this PC.
5. No Microsoft account?: When prompted to enter an email or phone number, select I don’t have this person’s sign-in information, then click Add a user without a Microsoft account.
6. Create the account: Enter a username and password for the new local account, then click Next.
7. Sign in with the new account: After creating the account, you can sign out of your Microsoft account and sign in with the new local account.

If you had important files or settings associated with the old local account, they may not be recoverable unless you have a backup. Consider checking if any system restore points are available that might help recover the previous state of your system.

References:

• How to use System Restore to log on when you lose access to an account

Hi Nydia, that sounds like a tough situation. When Windows crashes, it can sometimes corrupt user profile data, which makes the local account disappear or fail to load. The system then defaults to your Microsoft account because that’s still valid. First, check if the local account still exists by going to Settings > Accounts > Other users. If it’s missing, you can recreate it by adding a new local account and setting permissions. If it’s there but not accessible, try running netplwiz or lusrmgr.msc to reset the password. Also, do you remember if the local account had admin rights? And was the crash during an update or just random?