How to Add Users in Linux From the KDE Plasma Desktop

What to Know

• GUI method: Select KDE Plasma menu > System Settings > Account Details > User Manager > +. Fill out the details and choose Apply.
• If the new user needs admin privileges, check the Enable administrator privileges for this user box.
• Command Line method: Select KDE Plasma menu > Terminal and enter sudo adduser username. Answer the questions and use Y to save.

Linux is a multi-user environment, and you can have as many users on a system as you need. Each logs in to their secure account and enjoys access to all installed applications. When you first install Linux, you create a single user that you log in with. Then, to add more users, choose one of two ways to add additional accounts on a distribution with KDE Plasma.

The GUI Method

Use the System Settings tool within KDE Plasma to modify users:

Instructions in this article apply to the KDE Neon distribution with KDE Plasma 5.15. The version of KDE Plasma you use doesn't affect this process.

1. Click the KDE Plasma menu button.

   

2. Click System Settings.

   

3. Click Account Details.

   

4. Click User Manager.

   

5. In the resulting window, click +.

   

6. Fill out the details for the user (such as their username, real name, email address, and password).

   

7. If the user needs administrator access (for example, to be added to the sudoers file), select the Enable administrator privileges for this user check box.

   

8. Click Apply.

   

9. Close the System Settings window.

At this point, you can log out of KDE and log in with the newly created user.

The Command Line Method

To add a new user with the command line:

1. Click the KDE Plasma menu button.

   

2. Click Terminal.

   

3. In the terminal window, enter the command:

   sudo adduser USERNAME
   

   USERNAME is the name of the new user to be added. When prompted, type your superuser (sudo) password.

4. When prompted, enter and verify a password for the new user and then answer the questions. These questions are optional, but you should, at a minimum, fill out the Full Name option.

   

5. Type Y to save the information.

Once again, you've added a new user to your Linux machine. You can log out of the current user and log into the newly created user.