Wondering How To Sync Your Settings In Windows 10? Here Is How

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By Victor Ashiedu

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Wondering how to sync your settings in Windows 10? This Itechguide teaches you how to sync your Windows 10 settings across multiple Windows 10 devices.

Before I dive into the steps to enable syn settings, please note the following – settings will only sync across devices when:

  1. You enable Sync settings on each device
  2. Log in to the devices with the same Microsoft account
  3. Verify the Microsoft account you use to log in to the devices – without this some settings may not sync
  4. You can enable All settings to sync or enable individual settings

With that out of the way, here are steps to sync your settings across Windows 10 devices.

Sign In With A Microsoft Account

Wondering How To Sync Your Settings In Windows 10? - Sign In With A Microsoft Account

The first step to sync your settings in Windows 10 across devices is to ensure that you are signed in to all devices with a Microsoft account. If you are signed in with a local account, your settings will not sync across devices.

Follow the steps below to check whether you are signed in to Windows 10 with a Microsoft account – and if not – see how to sign in with a Microsoft account.

  1. Enter account in the Windows 10 search box. Then, from the search result, click Manage your account.
Wondering How To Sync Your Settings In Windows 10? - Sign In With A Microsoft Account
  1. When “Your info” settings screen opens, check the following:
  • Whether an email is displayed beneath your name
  • If “Sign in with a local account instead” is on the page
If these 2 conditions are met, then you are signed in to Windows 10 with a Microsoft account – proceed to the next step to verify your identity, then to set up sync settings in Windows 10. However, if “Your info” settings screen displays Sign in with a Microsft account instead, then you are definitely signed in to your Windows 10 PC with a local account. In this instance, follow the steps in How to Sign in to Windows 10 with a Microsoft Account (link opens in a new browser tab).
Once you sign in with a Microsoft account, sign in to all devices you want to sync Windows 10 settings – with the same Microsoft account. If, however, after signing in with the same Microsoft account, your settings are not syncing across devices, proceed to the next step in this guide Verify Your Identity With Microsoft (link takes you to the section of the guide).
Wondering How To Sync Your Settings In Windows 10? - Sign In With A Microsoft Account

Verify Your Identity With Microsoft

How Do I Sync My Settings In Windows 10? Step 1: Verify Your Identity

In my introduction, I mentioned that you need to verify your identity for all your Windows 10 settings to sync across your devices.

Follow the steps in the last section to open “Your info” settings screen. Then, proceed to verify your identity from step 2 below.

Alternatively, if you do not want to scroll back to the last section, follow the steps below to check whether your verification is pending and complete the verification:

  1. Right-click Windows 10 Start Menu and select Settings.
How Do I Sync My Settings In Windows 10? Here Is How
  1. Then, when Windows 10 Settings screen opens, locate Accounts category and click it.
  1. On Your info screen, if you see the message “You need to verify your identity”, click Verify.
If you do not have this information, it means that you already verified your identity with Microsoft for the account you use to login to Windows 10. Please proceed to the next section – Enable “Sync settings” In Each Windows 10 Device (link takes you to the section)

3. Then, on the pop-up displayed, if you added an alternative email to your Microsoft account, the email will be displayed. To proceed with verifying your identity with Microsoft, click on the displayed alternative email address.

Alternatively, if you did not include an alternative email address to your Microsoft account, the verification screen may display other verification methods. Follow the instructions on the verification screen. However, if you have been offered email verification, proceed to the next step below.
  1. When you click on the email address (in step 3), in the next screen (below), Microsoft will ask you to enter the email address in full. Enter the full email and click Send code.
Now open the email you entered above. Then, open the verification email from Microsoft and copy the verification code – see the second screenshot below.
  1. Finally, paste the code in the verification screen and click Verify.

Enable “Sync settings” In Each Windows 10 Device

How Do I Sync My Settings In Windows 10? Step 1:  Enable "Sync settings" In Each Windows 10 Device

Once you have verified the identity of the Microsoft account you use to login to all the Windows 10 devices, follow the steps below to sync your settings in Windows 10:

  1. On the left pane of your Windows 10 account info screen, click Sync your settings.
  1. Then, on the Sync your settings screen, ensure that the Sync settings button is toggled On.
Note the information beneath Sync your settings. It says “Sync your settings to other devices using <your signed in email address>”. To sync your Windows 10 settings across devices, you MUST sign in to ALL devices with the same email address. Otherwise, the sync settings will NOT sync to any device you sign in with another email address.
If you want to disable sync of some items, beneath Individual sync settings, toggle the button beneath an item you do not wish Off. As shown in the screenshot below, you can disable sync for Theme, Passwords, Language preferences, and Other Windows settings.

I hope you found this guide helpful. If you found this article helpful, kindly spare 2 minutes to share your experience with our community at [discourse_topic_url].

However, if you have any questions regarding this article or if the steps did not fix your problem, please post your question at [discourse_topic_url]. Our team and other community members will come back to you with a fix as soon as possible.

Finally, for more Windows 10 Itechguides, visit our Windows 10 How-To page.

About the Author

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Victor Ashiedu

Victor is the founder of InfoPress Media, publishers of Ilifeguides and Itechguides. With 20+ years of experience in IT infrastructure, his expertise spans Windows, Linux, and DevOps. Explore his contributions on Itechguides.com for insightful how-to guides and product reviews.

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2 thoughts on “Wondering How To Sync Your Settings In Windows 10? Here Is How”

    • Hi Vanessa,

      Which part of the guide is difficult to understand? If you kindly provide additional information, we may be able to offer additional help.

      Reply

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