How do I see what someone did on my laptop when I lent it?
Before you lend it, make a separate account for them in Settings, Accounts, Other users, so they never see your files, browser or saved passwords. Afterwards, Windows can show you some of what happened: sign ins in Event Viewer's Security log, recent files, browser history in their account, and any apps installed while it was away. It cannot show which of your files were opened unless something was recording at the time. If you want a record, keep one openly: tell them, and note who has the laptop and why. That keeps it fair, and it keeps it legal: recording someone's use of your own laptop is very different from secretly monitoring them.
Lending is not the same as a repair
A technician at a shop is a stranger. Someone borrowing your laptop is usually family, a friend or a colleague, and you want to keep the relationship as much as your privacy. That is why a separate account matters more here: most people who borrow a laptop only need a browser, and with their own account they never come near your photos or your signed in apps.
What Windows keeps, and what it does not
Event Viewer's Security log shows sign ins (event 4624), so you can see when the laptop was used and by which account. Settings, Apps, Installed apps sorted by date shows anything new. Their own account keeps its own browser history. What Windows does not keep is which of your files were opened, so if they used your account, you will not know for sure.
Lending it, the calm way
- 01
Give them their own account
Settings, Accounts, Other users. A standard account, not an administrator.
- 02
Say it out loud
Who has it, for how long, and why. Writing it down helps if something goes wrong later.
- 03
Keep a record you both know about
A record they are aware of is fair to them and useful to you.
- 04
Take it back properly
Sign out of their account and check the apps installed while it was away.
Rashnova's Handover Mode is made for this. It keeps a ticket with who has the laptop and why, records what they used while it is away, newest first, and asks for your PIN to take it back. Past handovers stay listed, each with its own sealed report. It never records the screen, what they type or what is inside a file, and the ticket with their name makes it a record you both know about, not secret monitoring.