Bug 481706

Summary: Ability to Create Guest Account
Product: [Applications] systemsettings Reporter: tombrown9501
Component: kcm_usersAssignee: Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status: CONFIRMED ---    
Severity: wishlist CC: fanzhuyifan, ilikefoss, uhhadd
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: 5.27.10   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Debian testing   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description tombrown9501 2024-02-23 02:36:02 UTC 
SUMMARY
It would be great to create a guest account from this page. An account that by default doesn't have access to your personal files, folders, emails, browser profile and logins etc, but can still access the internet and use the available programs. This account would be an option on the login page and not require a password. This would be perfect for friends and family who need to use your computer.

While the above would be an excellent as is. Even better would be the ability for the account to return to a clean slate after logout. 

I can struggle through creating this through the terminal, but it is painful and your average computer user certainly could not do this. 

Thanks for the consideration!

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Debian GNU/Linux 12
KDE Plasma Version: 5.27.10
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.107.0
Qt Version: 5.15.10
Kernel Version: 6.6.15-amd64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 8 × Intel® Core™ i5-8250U CPU @ 1.60GHz
Memory: 15.4 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® UHD Graphics 620
Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Product Name: Inspiron 7573
Comment 1 fanzhuyifan 2024-02-23 02:48:15 UTC 
Isn't that just a non-administrator account? Other accounts wouldn't have access to your home folder or personal files, unless your system has non-standard access permissions.

You can already choose the account type in users - add new.
Comment 2 tombrown9501 2024-02-24 04:10:23 UTC 
(In reply to fanzhuyifan from comment #1)
> Isn't that just a non-administrator account? Other accounts wouldn't have
> access to your home folder or personal files, unless your system has
> non-standard access permissions.
> 
> You can already choose the account type in users - add new.

No its not. You are required to add a password to a non administrator account.  Additionally there is no existing functionality to rollback any changes to the account (deleting added files, reverting changed settings, saved passwords) after logging out to protect the privacy and security of the guest.

This is a desirable function for people who host guests and there is no way to accomplish this without complex terminal interaction.
Comment 3 tombrown9501 2024-03-06 01:48:58 UTC 
Since it has been almost two weeks and I haven't heard any valid objections to why this shouldn't be a wishlist item, I'm changing the status to confirmed.
Comment 4 John 2025-02-08 00:09:07 UTC 
I need a guest account (without login password) too!
 For family members, friends and kids.
They should be able to use any program, except for KDE Partition manager and Gparted.
And when they use Dolphin, they should not be able enter in /home/my-user not even in view mode.

When I was using Winows 7, I had Deep Freeze installed on C: drive so I was not afraid of any chances I did, viruses did or guests did as everything was gone after reboot, but Linux doesn't have such a thing.
That kind of "all changes reverting automatically" would be nice too for the guest user, if anyone knows  a way to do it like Deep Freeze.