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Having multiple user accounts on a computer is nothing new. Many people like to have more than one user account in Windows for things such as a secondary local admin account. Or if you are on a shared computer, then you can give each person who uses it their own login to keep files and settings separate between accounts.
If you are on Windows 11, then you are most likely familiar with the extra steps required to switch user accounts on your computer. And if this is something you do on a regular basis, you may want to set up an easier way to do so. In this article, we will be showing you how to create a switch user shortcut for your taskbar, desktop or start menu so you can switch between user accounts with less effort.
To switch user accounts in Windows 11, you need to click the Start button, then your username, then the ellipsis and finally on the user account you want to switch over to.
To create a switch user shortcut, we will be creating a new shortcut just like you would for any program or app. We will make our shortcut on the desktop and then we can move it to the taskbar or start menu as needed.
The first step involves right clicking on the desktop and choosing New > Shortcut. In the box labeled Type the location or the item, you can type or copy and paste the text below and then click the Next button.
%windir%\system32\tsdiscon.exe
The next step involves giving your shortcut a name. You can make this whatever you like or use the text from the sample below. Then you will click the Finish button.
If you get a message saying that Windows cannot find the tsdiscon.exe file, you can download it from this link and then copy it to your C:\Windows\System32 folder.
Once you have your shortcut created, you can then change its icon if you do not like the generic one that Windows uses. We have provided a custom icon that you can use included in the link above if you want to use that.
To change the icon for your new shortcut, you can right click on it and choose Properties. Then on the Shortcut tab, click the Change Icon button.
You may see a message similar to the one below saying tsdiscon.exe contains no icons but you can just click on the OK button to continue.
You will then be shown the default Windows icon files from the System32 folder that you can use if you find something you like. If not, you can click the Browse button and then navigate to the custom icon you downloaded and apply that to your shortcut.
This is how the shortcut will look on your desktop using the custom icon.
You can then drag it to the taskbar for easier access if needed.
Now when you click on the switch user shortcut, you will be logged out and taken back to the login screen where you can then log in with a different user.
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