How to Create a Guest Account on Mac and Protect Your Personal Files

How to Create a Guest Account on Mac and Protect Your Personal Files

Setting up a guest account on your Mac provides a simple and convenient way for other people to use your computer without handing them access to your private data and digital workspace.

If your Mac has multiple users, you should set up an account for each person so each can personalize settings and options without affecting the others. You can let occasional users log in as guests without access to other users’ files or settings. You can also create groups. You must be an administrator of your Mac to perform these tasks.

I find it very convenient to have a guest account. Whenever I am working on something and a friend or family member wants to use my Mac, I just switch to the guest account so that they can’t accidentally close my applications, windows, documents etc.

This tutorial will apply for MacBook Pro, Air, Mini's running the macOS operating system. This tutorial was performed on a macOS Big Sur system.