The net user command is one of many net commands.

Net User Command Availability

The net user command is available from within the Command Prompt in most versions of Windows including Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server operating systems, and some older versions of Windows, too.

Net User Command Syntax

net user [username [password | *] [/add] [options]] [/domain]] [username [/delete] [/domain]] [/help] [/?] The following options are to be used where options is noted in the net user command syntax above:

Net User Command Examples

This first example of the net user command shows that at its simplest form, it will produce a list of all the users on the computer, much like this: This computer has over a dozen user accounts, so they’re separated into multiple columns. In this net user example, the command produces all the details on the administrator user account. Here’s an example of what might display: As you can see, all the details for the administrator account on this Windows 7 computer are listed. Here’s an example where I, presumably someone responsible for this user account [rodriguezr], make a change to the days and times [/times] that this account is able to log on to Windows: Monday through Friday [M–F] from 7:00am to 4:00pm [7AM–4PM] and on Saturday [Sa] from 8:00am to noon [8AM–12PM]. We thought we’d throw the kitchen sink at you with this example. This is the kind of net user application that you might never do at home, but you might very well see in a script published for a new user by the IT department in a company. Here, we’re setting up a new user account [/add] with the name nadeema and setting the initial password as r28Wqn90. This is a standard account in our company, which we note in the account itself [/comment:“Basic user account.”], and is the new Human Resources executive, Ahmed [/fullname:“Ahmed Nadeem”]. We want Ahmed to change his password to something he won’t forget, so we want him to set his own the first time he logs on [/logonpasswordchg:yes]. Also, Ahmed should only have access to the two computers in the Human Resources office [/workstations:jr7twwr,jr2rtwb]. Finally, our company uses a domain controller [/domain], so Ahmed’s account should be set up there. As you can see, the net user command can be used for a lot more than simple user account adds, changes, and removals. We configured several advanced aspects of Ahmed’s new account right from the Command Prompt. Now, we’ll finish off with an easy one. Ahmed [nadeema] didn’t work out as the latest HR member, so he was let go and his account removed [/delete].

The net user command is a subset of the net command and so is similar to its sister commands like net use, net time, net send, net view, etc.