Changing Your Windows 8 Account Picture

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 16, 2017)

Not only does Windows try to know who you are, but it also gives you the ability to aid its knowledge-gathering quest by providing a picture to go along with your account. Your picture doesn't have to be of you, however. You might want to use a picture that expresses your personality in some way or something that features a favorite object, place, or event.

In short, any picture can be associated with your account. In order to change your account picture, simply click your account name (typically your e-mail address) in the upper-right corner of the Start screen. Windows displays a few options; you should choose Change Account Picture. In short order you are faced with the Personalize area of the PC Settings screen. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Changing your account picture.

There are three ways you can set the picture:

  • Browse. Click this button to browser your system for an existing picture you want to use.
  • Camera. Click this button to view any pictures available through a camera. (This is most often used on tablets or phones, even though the option is also available on desktop systems.)
  • People. Click this button to look through pictures associated with your contacts and other people accessible through your connections.

Once you've located a picture you want to use, just select it and click the appropriate button. (For instance, the button my be labeled "Use Image" or "Insert" or "Choose.") Windows associates the picture with your account and displays it whenever your account information is visible.

 This tip (13151) applies to Windows 8.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Searching for Paragraph Marks and Line Breaks

Word allows you to search not for special characters that normally do not print such as paragraph marks and line breaks.

Discover More

Displaying Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips

ScreenTips can appear with or without shortcut keys displayed in them. Here's how to control whether they appear or not.

Discover More

Converting Phone Numbers

Sometimes you receive a phone number that contains alphabetic characters and you need to convert it to a purely numeric ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Getting a List of User Accounts

Part of managing a computer system that is shared by multiple people is to keep track of all the user accounts on that ...

Discover More

Creating a PIN for Sign-in

Add an extra level of security to your computer to protect your data. A PIN allows for added peace of mind and use.

Discover More

Understanding the Guest Account

If lots of people may need temporary access to your computer, then you may want to set up the Guest user account. Before ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five more than 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


Newest Tips