Overview

In PowerShell, you can use various cmdlets to manage local users and groups more efficiently than the traditional command-line tools. Here are some of the most commonly used PowerShell cmdlets for managing local users and groups in Windows:

Creating a Local User:

To create a new local user account, you can use the New-LocalUser cmdlet. Replace “Username” and “Password” with the desired username and password for the new user.

New-LocalUser -Name "Username" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString "Password" -AsPlainText -Force)

Changing a User’s Password:

To change the password for an existing local user, you can use the Set-LocalUser cmdlet. Replace “Username” with the username of the user whose password you want to change.

Set-LocalUser -Name "Username" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString "NewPassword" -AsPlainText -Force)

Deleting a Local User:

To delete an existing local user account, you can use the Remove-LocalUser cmdlet. Replace “Username” with the username of the user you want to remove.

Remove-LocalUser -Name "Username"

Adding a User to a Group:

To add a user to a local group (e.g., Administrators or Users), you can use the Add-LocalGroupMember cmdlet. Replace “GroupName” with the name of the group and “Username” with the username of the user you want to add to the group.

Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "GroupName" -Member "Username"

Removing a User from a Group:

To remove a user from a local group, you can use the Remove-LocalGroupMember cmdlet. Replace “GroupName” with the name of the group and “Username” with the username of the user you want to remove from the group.

Remove-LocalGroupMember -Group "GroupName" -Member "Username"

If you don’t remember what the command is, you can use the Get-Command to find the cmdlet

PS C:\> Get-Command *local* |where {$_.Source -eq "Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts"}

CommandType     Name                                               Version    Source
-----------     ----                                               -------    ------
Cmdlet          Add-LocalGroupMember                               1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Disable-LocalUser                                  1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Enable-LocalUser                                   1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Get-LocalGroup                                     1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Get-LocalGroupMember                               1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Get-LocalUser                                      1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          New-LocalGroup                                     1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          New-LocalUser                                      1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Remove-LocalGroup                                  1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Remove-LocalGroupMember                            1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Remove-LocalUser                                   1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Rename-LocalGroup                                  1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Rename-LocalUser                                   1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Set-LocalGroup                                     1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts
Cmdlet          Set-LocalUser                                      1.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.LocalAccounts

Conclusion

PowerShell cmdlets provide a more intuitive and script-friendly way to manage local users and groups on Windows systems. Always ensure you have the appropriate permissions before performing any user or group management tasks.

Overview#

Creating a Local User:#

Changing a User’s Password:#

Deleting a Local User:#

Adding a User to a Group:#

Removing a User from a Group:#

Conclusion#