Most people prefer using a Microsoft account because it allows for them to open the user account in another location and expect to find all settings the same way they had them before on another computer. This includes the sharing of files through OneDrive so you can have all the same pictures, movies, videos, so forth, available from File Explorer no matter what device you’re logging on with.

Something else the Microsoft account can do for you is sync your settings, so all the settings stay the same between devices as well. You can also opt not to have your settings synced if you would prefer it that way. That would mean you would go back to an experience that is similar to that of a local user account: no settings are synced across devices, and each device you log on from can be a unique experience.

Having settings synced on a Microsoft account is useful for most people because it saves them time having to continue changing settings around to suit their needs. However, there are occasions when you might want to have different setups across different computers. In those times, you may prefer disabling the syncing of settings.

The sync settings are available from the Settings application, listed under the “Sync Your Settings” heading. Here you will find the option to enable and disable syncing completely with a toggle, and the chance to enable and disable the syncing of individual settings. Some of the individual settings include themes, Internet Explorer settings, passwords, language preferences, ease of access, and other Windows settings.

See Also: About sync settings on Windows 10 devices — Microsoft.com

This tutorial demonstrates how to enable or disable Sync Your Settings in Windows 10.

An example of the Settings app when Sync Your Settings is disabled:

With Sync Your Settings enabled, you can venture into the Settings app and change the sync settings individually. If you get a message that says “Your passwords won’t sync until you verify your identity on this device” click on the “Verify” link.

To verify your account, select an email that you have access to and then type that email account into the available field before clicking “Next.”

Open the email and then enter the code from Microsoft into the available field.

Note: When you enter the code, you will have to type it all out in full; it does not let you copy and paste it from the email. It does this for security reasons. To make it easier, you can keep the browser window with the email open and bring the smaller window over the top of the browser so you can type the code while you’re looking at it.

How to Enable/Disable Sync Your Settings in Windows 10

You can enable or disable the Sync Your Settings from the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 10.

Note: The Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Windows 10 Education editions of Windows 10.

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. Using the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to the following path by double-clicking on each of the keys: Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Sync your settings

3. In the right side pane of Sync Your Settings in the Local Group Policy Editor window, double-click on the “Do not sync” option or click once on “Do not sync” and then click on the “policy setting” link to edit it.

4. From the Do not sync policy window, choose between “Not configured (enables Sync your settings for now and will follow Windows’ default setting in future), “Enabled” (disabled Sync your settings), and “Disabled” (always enables Sync your settings).

That’s all.

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