Using Guest Sessions And User Accounts In Elementary OS
A guest session in elementary OS provides a temporary desktop for someone who needs to use your computer without receiving a permanent profile. It is useful when a friend needs to check email, a family member wants to browse the web, or you are demonstrating elementary OS on a shared laptop. The session is designed to keep the visitor separate from your everyday account and remove their temporary files after they sign out.
User accounts serve a different purpose. A standard account gives a person a lasting home folder, personal settings and saved documents, while an administrator account can change system-wide settings and manage other users. Understanding the distinction helps protect your files, particularly on a household computer, a community device, or a laptop used between home, university and work.
| Access type | Keeps files after sign-out | Can install system software | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guest session | No | No | Short, low-trust access |
| Standard user | Yes | Usually no | Regular personal use |
| Administrator | Yes | Yes | Device owner or trusted manager |
What A Guest Session Provides
The guest profile is a temporary workspace rather than a normal account. It normally starts with a clean desktop, access to installed applications and a separate temporary home directory. A visitor can browse the web, open LibreOffice or another installed program, adjust some session preferences and save files while logged in.
Those files are intended to disappear when the guest session ends. This makes the option convenient on a family computer in Adelaide or a shared laptop in a Melbourne flat, where creating a permanent account for every visitor would be unnecessary. It also means a guest should copy anything they need to an external drive or cloud service before signing out.
A guest session is not the same as a secure virtual machine. Someone using it can still interact with connected hardware and access information exposed by applications or network services. If the computer is connected to an untrusted public network, such as free Wi-Fi at a café near Sydney Central, use HTTPS websites and avoid entering sensitive banking or government credentials.
Finding The Guest Option
Sign out of your current elementary OS account or open the system’s login screen. The available session choices are shown there, usually alongside the list of local users. Select the entry labelled Guest, Guest Session or a similar option, then continue without entering a password.
The exact appearance can vary between elementary OS releases, installed greeters and local configuration. On some systems, the guest choice may be hidden or disabled by the administrator. If you cannot see it, check Settings and search for Users or Accounts. An administrator can also inspect whether the guest service is enabled through the system’s account-management tools.
After the guest desktop loads, check that the visitor has access to the applications they need. A guest may be able to use the browser, files application, media player and office software, but cannot generally add packages, modify protected system settings or manage other users. When finished, use the session menu to sign out rather than simply closing the laptop lid.
Limits And Privacy Considerations
The main protection comes from separation and cleanup. A guest cannot normally open your personal home folder simply by browsing through the Files app, and their temporary home directory is cleared when the session closes. Your browser history, downloads and desktop changes should therefore remain separate from those of the guest.
This arrangement does not guarantee that every trace vanishes. Files copied to USB storage, websites visited through an online account, browser-side records saved by a service, print jobs and data sent across a network can exist elsewhere. A guest who logs into Gmail, MyGov or a banking service must still sign out of that service before leaving.
Be careful with automatically mounted storage. If your computer has an external drive connected, a guest may be able to read or alter files on it, depending on the device’s permissions and encryption. Keep tax records, Medicare documents, work material and private photographs disconnected or protected when lending a computer to someone you do not fully trust.
A guest session also does not protect against someone who already has physical access to the machine and knows how to change boot settings. Full-disk encryption, a firmware password and a strong administrator password provide broader protection. For a laptop carried between Perth, Brisbane and home, those controls matter as much as the temporary profile.
Creating A Regular User Account
For a family member, flatmate or colleague who will use the computer repeatedly, create a normal account instead of relying on Guest. Open Settings, choose Users or Accounts, unlock the panel with your administrator password and select the control for adding a new user. The wording can differ slightly by elementary OS version.
Enter the person’s name and choose a username. A short, uncomplicated username is easier to use in file paths and terminal commands. Give the account a strong password, or allow the user to set one during their first sign-in. Avoid sharing your own password; separate credentials make it clear who owns each file and make account removal much safer later.
The new user receives a separate home directory, desktop preferences, browser profile and application settings. Installed applications are usually available to all users, while documents saved in the new account remain private from ordinary browsing by other standard users. Personal folders still deserve sensible permissions and, for highly confidential material, encryption.
The account may not appear until the person signs in once. Ask them to log in from the greeter, complete any first-run setup and confirm that their keyboard layout, language and display settings are suitable. Australian users may want English (Australia), an Australian keyboard layout and the correct local time zone, especially on a refurbished machine imported from overseas.
Choosing Administrator Rights Carefully
Elementary OS distinguishes between ordinary users and administrators. An administrator can install software, change network and security settings, create or remove accounts and approve actions that affect the whole system. A standard user can work normally without having that level of control.
Give administrator access only to people who need it. On a home PC, the owner might retain the administrator role while a teenager or flatmate uses a standard account. This reduces the chance that an accidental command, a malicious download or an unfamiliar installer changes the operating system for everyone.
Some software installation methods ask for the administrator password even when an application is being installed for one user. That behaviour is normal for system-wide packages. The person who manages a Brisbane community centre computer may need admin rights for updates, while volunteers can use standard accounts for daily browsing and document work.
You can usually change a user’s role later in the Users panel. Unlock the settings, select the account and turn administrator privileges on or off. Have the account owner sign out before changing permissions, then test the new role with a harmless task. Never remove the last administrator account unless another working administrator already exists.
Managing Passwords And Existing Accounts
A user can generally change their own password through the account settings, provided they know the current password. An administrator can reset another user’s password from the management panel. A reset may restore access to the account while leaving encrypted personal data inaccessible if the original encryption key depended on the old password.
Use long, unique passwords rather than a short phrase reused across services. The password for an elementary OS account should not match an email, shopping or banking password. A password manager can help, particularly when one household manages accounts for several devices bought through Officeworks, a local computer shop or the refurbished market.
When someone stops using the computer, disable or remove their account instead of merely deleting a few files. Copy any documents that belong to the household first, then remove the account through Settings. If elementary OS offers a choice to delete the user’s home directory, review it carefully: removing the home folder deletes local documents, downloads, pictures and application data.
Do not delete an account while that user is logged in. Sign them out, check for another active session and then make the change. If a former user’s files must be retained, move them to an appropriately protected folder and update ownership and permissions rather than leaving a forgotten account active.
Troubleshooting Guest Access
If Guest is missing from the login screen, first confirm that you are looking at the actual greeter rather than the lock screen inside an existing session. Sign out completely, restart the computer and check again. A pending system update, a changed greeter configuration or a disabled guest service can also affect what is shown.
Check the Users or Accounts settings while signed in as an administrator. If the interface has no guest control, avoid copying random commands from old Ubuntu guides into the terminal. Guest-session support has changed across Linux releases, and instructions written for another version may disable login services or create a weaker configuration.
If the guest session fails to start, test whether a newly created standard account works. A successful standard account points towards a guest-profile or greeter problem, while failure across all accounts suggests a wider issue with the display manager, storage or permissions. Record the elementary OS version and the exact error before searching the elementary community forums.
A guest who cannot print, access a camera or connect to a particular network may be encountering intentional permissions rather than a fault. A local printer in Canberra may require a system-wide driver, and a university or workplace network may require certificates that only an administrator can install. Resolve those requirements in the permanent account instead of weakening guest restrictions.
A Sensible Setup For Shared Computers
A practical shared setup usually has one carefully protected administrator account, separate standard accounts for regular users and Guest for occasional visitors. Keep automatic login disabled so the person at the keyboard must choose an account. Set the screen to lock after inactivity, especially on a laptop used in a library, office or shared household space.
Install updates from the administrator account and keep the browser and important applications current. Before handing over the machine, close your applications, eject USB storage and sign out. When a visitor finishes, check that the guest session has ended rather than leaving the computer at an unlocked desktop.
For regular users, explain where their files belong and how to sign out. A standard account is more suitable than Guest for a university student in Wollongong, a remote worker on the NBN or a family member who needs documents to remain available next week. Guest is best reserved for brief access where persistence is unnecessary.
The key distinction is simple: Guest is temporary, a standard account is personal, and an administrator account controls the computer. Use the least powerful account that meets the task, keep important data separate, and treat sign-out, passwords and physical access as parts of the same security routine.
