How to Add a User to a Chromebook

This article explains how to add, remove, and use additional user profiles on a Chromebook.

How to Add a User on Chromebook

If you want to log into a new user on Chromebook, you'll have to first add that user. To do this, log out of your Chromebook. This will bring you to the main sign-in screen.

1. From the main login window, click Add Person at the bottom of the window.

2. This will take you to a sign-in window. Type the email and click Next. Enter the password for the new account and press Enter.

3. This will log into the new Google account and open a new Chrome OS session with default settings. Once you've logged into the account on the Chromebook, it becomes accessible using the multiple-user options.

How to Remove a User on Chromebook

To remove any users who've signed into the Chromebook from the device, first log out of any accounts you're currently signed into. This will take you to the main sign-in screen.

1. On the sign-in screen, click the account you want to remove. This will bring up the account name with the password field.

2. Click the dropdown next to the profile name, then click Remove this user.

3. This will present a warning that once you remove the account, any files and data you saved with the account will be deleted. Click Remove this user to complete the process.

4. This will remove the user account from the Chrome OS system. It will no longer show up on the right side of the login screen until you add the user again.

Switching Chromebook User Accounts

You can quickly switch between the user accounts currently logged into the Chromebook in a couple of ways. The easiest is to select the time section at the bottom left of the window, select the current profile image, then select the account you want to switch to.

The other method is using keyboard shortcuts. Press Alt+Ctrl+> or Alt+Ctrl+< to scroll through Chromebook logged-in user accounts.

Using Chromebook With Multiple Users

When you log into a Chromebook with a Google account, the entire Chromebook experience is controlled by all of the settings you've configured when logged in under that account.

This includes the desktop background, Chrome OS apps you've installed, and your entire Chrome history. The one area multiple users share is the Downloads area, as viewed in the Files app.

While the storage space of this local storage area is shared amongst Google user accounts on the Chromebook, each user can only view their own files that are stored there.

When you're logged in under any account, you can log in any additional account by selecting the time area at the lower right corner of the screen and selecting the profile image.

You'll see currently logged-in accounts, and the option to Sign in another user at the bottom.

Once you log into the new account, you'll see all logged-in accounts listed as logged in.

How Guest Mode Works

Guest Mode on Chromebook lets users log into the device with a separate, temporary account. It is somewhat of an "incognito mode" for the Chromebook.

All browsing activity, website cookies, and passwords won't get saved on the device. More importantly, anyone who uses Guest Mode on your Chromebook can't access any information from other accounts that logged into the Chromebook either.

1. To get started, sign out of any accounts you've signed into on the Chromebook. In the sign-in window, click Browse as Guest at the bottom of the sign-in screen.

2. This will open a session on the Chromebook with a browser tab indicating that the current user is browsing as a guest.

3. The user can browse the web and otherwise use the Chromebook as normal. However, once they log out of the Guest Mode session, all data will be deleted.