Microsoft is keen on tying Windows 11 installations to a Microsoft account, which is supposed to be a good thing since it automatically backs up your data along with your BitLocker encryption keys. However, this makes it a bit harder to pass on the computer to someone else, since the computer will be tied to your Microsoft account.

If you want to change the email address of the administrator account on Windows 11, though, you do have some options. So let's take a look at how you can do exactly that.

Change the email address associated with your Windows account

Your first option is to unlink the Microsoft account you used when setting up the PC, and then link to a new account instead.

Step 1: Switch to a local account

The first thing you will need to do is change the current administrator account to a local account. This will essentially separate your computer's account from the Microsoft account attached to the email address. You will retain all the current settings, but your data will no longer sync with other Windows devices.

1. Open Settings from the Start Menu.
2. Navigate to Accounts, then scroll down and select the Your info box.
3. Click Sign in with a local account instead.
4. Confirm that you want to sign in with a local account and enter your PIN or password.
5. Choose a username and password for the new local account and click Next. You can skip a password this time since you'll be linking another Microsoft account later.
6. Click Sign out and finish to create a local account. The computer may restart before allowing you to sign back into the new account.

While this will unlink the Microsoft account from Windows, certain apps and Windows components may keep using the account that was linked previously. You may still need to sign out of each app individually.

Step 2: Link a new email address (Microsoft account)

Now that the administrator account is set to local, and you are signed in, you can add the new email address. Doing so will connect the new email address and associated Microsoft account with your PC.

1. Open the Settings menu.
2. Navigate to Accounts and again select Your info.
3. Click Sign in with a Microsoft account instead.
4. Sign in with the new Microsoft email address and password.

Your administrator account will now be linked to the new email address you want to use.

Add a Microsoft account to Windows 11

If you want to grant administrator access to another email address but also keep the current one, you can also just create another user account with that person's Microsoft account. For that, follow these steps:

1. In the Settings app, navigate to the Accounts section.
2. Scroll down and choose Other users.
3. Click Add account. Then Sign in with the Microsoft account details you want to use.
4. Once the account is added, click Change account type under it.
5. Use the dropdown menu to choose Administrator and click OK.

The new account will now have administrator permissions, so all you need to do is sign into it.

Change Microsoft account email address

Finally, you can change the email address associated with your Microsoft account. This may be the best option when abandoning an email address you no longer use, e.g., if you are eliminating an old AOL email address and switching to Gmail. Changing the email address associated with your Microsoft account will also change the administrator email address in Windows 11.

1. Open the Settings app and navigate to the Accounts section.
2. Click Your info under account settings.
3. Under Related settings, click Accounts.
4. Sign in to your Microsoft account (if prompted) in the newly opened web browser window.
5. Click the Your info tab on the left side of the screen.
6. Select Edit account info.
7. Click Add email.
8. You can either create a new email address or use an existing address as an alias for your account. Click Add an alias when you're done.
9. You can now change the primary alias to the new email address and delete the old one if it is no longer needed.

You can also remove the email altogether

Microsoft keeps pushing users to sign in with a Microsoft account on Windows 11, and there are some legitimate benefits to it, though it can lead to articles like this due to it being harder now to pass on a laptop to someone else. However, it's still manageable if you know what you're doing.

That being said, you always have the option to remove the Microsoft account altogether and just use the PC with a local account, which may make things a bit easier for you. Hopefully, Microsoft doesn't remove that option in the future.