How to See Which Groups Your Windows User Account Belongs To

RELATED: User Accounts, Groups, Permissions & Their Role in Sharing

A security group is really just a collection of user accounts. Rights and permissions are assigned to a group, and then those rights and permissions are granted to any account that’s a member of the group. Group membership can determine a user’s access to files, folders, and even system settings. Here’s how you can find out what groups a Windows user account belongs to.

Use the Local Users and Groups Tool for a Quick Look

If you just want a quick look at the local groups to which a user account belongs, the Local Users and Groups tool does the job nicely. Note that you’ll need to be signed on to Windows with an account that has administrator privileges to run this tool.

Hit Windows+R, type “lusrmgr.msc” into the Run box, and then hit Enter.

In the “Local Users and Groups” window, select the “Users” folder, and then double-click the user account you want to look at.

In the properties window for the user account, switch to the “Member Of” tab. This tab shows you the local groups to which the user account belongs, and also lets you add the account to other groups.

Use PowerShell (or the Command Prompt) for a More Detailed View

If you want a more detailed look at an account’s group membership that also includes the hidden system groups to which the account belongs, you’ll need to fire up PowerShell (or the Command Prompt; the command we’re discussing works the same there).

Hit Windows+X, and then click the “Windows PowerShell” option.

At the prompt, type the following command, and then hit Enter:

whoami /groups

Unfortunately, unlike using the Local Users and Groups tool we covered in the previous section, the whoami command does not let you check out groups for any user account other than the one with which you’re currently signed in.