How to let someone use your Mac safely with the Guest User

2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Short answer

Open System Settings, click Users & Groups and click the info button next to Guest User. Turn on Allow guests to log in to this computer. A guest logs in without a password, cannot see your files or change settings, and everything they did is deleted when they log out.

When a friend wants to check their email or a child wants to look something up, handing over your own account means handing over your mail, photos and saved passwords. The Guest User is a clean, temporary account made for this.

Menu names are from recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings.

Step by step

  1. Open System Settings, Users & Groups

    Choose Apple menu, System Settings and click Users & Groups in the sidebar.

  2. Click the info button next to Guest User

    It is the small i at the right of the line.

  3. Turn on Allow guests to log in to this computer

    No password is needed for the guest account.

  4. Choose the extras

    Limit adult websites filters many adult sites in Safari. Allow guest users to connect to shared folders is only needed if the guest should reach shared folders on this Mac from another computer. Leave it off otherwise.

  5. Switch to the guest

    Choose Apple menu, Log Out, or use fast user switching in Control Center, and pick Guest User in the login window.

  6. When the guest is done

    The guest logs out, and the Mac deletes the guest's files, browser history and downloads. Anything worth keeping has to be saved elsewhere first, for example on a USB stick.

Good to know

With FileVault switched on, a guest can only use Safari and cannot reach the encrypted disk or create files. For a quick look at a website, that is all they need.

The guest account also helps to get a stolen Mac back. A finder who logs in as a guest and goes online with Safari lets the Mac report its position to Find My: how to turn on Find My Mac.

For someone who uses the Mac regularly, such as a family member, a normal account of their own is better: how to add a user account on a Mac.

What FileVault is: how to turn on FileVault on a Mac.

In short: System Settings, Users & Groups, info button next to Guest User, Allow guests to log in. Guest files are deleted at logout.

Sources
  • Apple Support: Change Guest User settings on Mac

Rules and prices change. Check the official source before you act.