With Windows 8, Microsoft introduced Microsoft accounts – accounts that had Microsoft email accounts attached to them and accounts that used the email addresses as logon usernames, and the feature has been a part of every version of the Windows Operating System that has been released since. People using Windows 8 or higher also have the option to switch from local user accounts to Microsoft accounts by attaching Microsoft email accounts to them, or to switch from Microsoft accounts to local user accounts by removing the affiliated Microsoft email accounts. However, unfortunately, many Windows 8.1 fail when they try to switch from a Microsoft account to a local user account or vice versa and see an error message containing error code 0x80070057.
The error message that users affected by this issue see is not very informative – all it really does is state that something went wrong and that 0x80070057 is the error code for the problem. This issue has been found to be most common in Windows 8.1 users who have recently upgraded from Windows 8. Whether you want to switch from a Microsoft account to a local account or from a local account to a Microsoft account, being denied your objective and seeing an error message that is as clear as mud instead can be pretty infuriating.
It has been discovered that this problem is caused when the local machine permissions for the Microsoft email account in question have somehow been corrupted. Thankfully, this issue can be resolved by simply deleting the offending account and then deleting specific registry keys. If you want to fix this problem, you need to:
- Navigate to PC settings > Accounts.
- Locate the offending account in the list and then delete
- Press the Windows Logo key + R to open a Run
- Type regedit into the Run dialog and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
- Once in the Registry Editor, press Ctrl + F to open the Find
- Type the complete Microsoft email address that is attached to the Microsoft account you want to turn into a local account or needs to be attached to the local account you want to turn into a Microsoft account into the Find what: Click on Find Next, and keep repeatedly clicking on it until you come across the following registry keys (one by one), and when you do come across them, delete them:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > IdentityStore > Cache > GlobalStore > IdentityCache > S-1-(whichever key contains the offending Microsoft email address)
HKEY_USERS > .DEFAULT > Software > Microsoft > IdentityCRL > StoredIdentities > (Offending Microsoft email address)
- Close the Registry Editor.
- Restart your computer.
When the computer boots up, try switching your Microsoft account into a local user account or your local user account into a Microsoft account and see whether or not you are able to successfully do so.
