This article mentions various methods to fix your disabled administrator account on Windows 11/10. To access most of the features, you need administrator privilege on your PC. And, if you are not able to access the administrator account for some reason, it can prevent you from doing a lot of things on your computer. If you are facing a disabled administrator account problem, look no further. Here, I will be discussing some solutions to resolve this issue.

Here are the methods that you can try if you are unable to access the administrator account on Windows 11/10:

1. Restart Windows in Safe Mode
2. Activate Administrator account through Command Prompt
3. Use Registry Editor
4. Fix it through Group Policy Editor
5. Create a new Administrator Account
6. Use PowerShell to Enable Hidden Administrator Account

Let’s discuss these solutions in detail!

1] Restart Windows in Safe Mode

Check if you can log on to Windows as an administrator in Safe Mode even when your administrator account is disabled. To boot Windows in Safe mode:

• Open the Settings app by pressing Windows + I shortcut key and then go to Updates & Security > Recovery tab.
• Go to the Advanced Setup section and click on the Restart now button.
• As Windows attempts to restart your system, you will see some options on the screen including Troubleshoot; click on it.
• Then, click on Advanced options > Startup Settings and you will see an option called Enable Safe Mode.
• Press the key assigned for Enable Safe Mode option and then Windows will start in safe mode.

Once there, see if you can log in. One in, do the following:

• Open Computer Management
• Expand Local Users and Groups
• Click Users, right-click Administrator in the right pane
• Click Properties.
• Click to clear the Account is disabled check box, and then click OK.

2] Activate Administrator account through Command Prompt

Try activating the administrator account using the command prompt and see if it is able to fix the problem. You can follow the below steps for that:

• First, press and hold the Shift key and then tap on the Restart option on your login screen. This will take you to Advanced Boot Options.
• Now, click on the Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt option
• Choose a user account and enter the password to it.
• When the Command Prompt opens up, execute this command in it: net user administrator /active:yes
• Reboot your PC and check.

The above suggestions will help you if it is your admin account that has disabled.

The following suggestions will require you to be signed in as an administrator. So if it is someone else’s Admin account that has been disabled, you can try to re-enable it using the usual method or try these suggestions.

3] Use Registry Editor

Open Command Prompt using steps mentioned in method (2). Now, type regedit in CMD and press Enter button. Doing so will open up Registry Editor.

In Registry Editor, select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE present in the left panel and then click File > Load Hive option.

Next, browse the following location on your PC: C:\Windows\System32\config.

Here, you will see a file named SAM; click and open it.

Now, you need to go to the following path in Registry Editor:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SAM\Domains\Account\Users

In this location, you will see a 000001F4 key which you need to select.  And then, double-click on the F binary value present on the right side.

Now, check for 0038 entry and see the first column showing 11. Replace this value with 11/10.

Finally, press the OK button and then close both Registry Editor and CMD to reboot your PC.

This should fix the disabled administrator account issue on Windows 11/10.

Related: How to Enable or Disable built-in Administrator account in Windows 11/10.

4] Fix it through Group Policy Editor

Group Policy Editor allows you to configure several policies and can be used to control user accounts. You can use it to fix disabled administrator account on Windows 10 PC by following below steps:

Open Run app using Windows Key + R hotkey. Type gpedit.msc and then click on OK to open Group Policy Editor.

In the Group Policy Editor, go to the following option:

Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options

You will now see an Accounts: Administrator account status option in the right panel. Double click this option and a Properties window will open up.

Make sure the Enabled option is selected. If not, click on it and then press Apply > OK button.

5] Create a new Administrator Account

Try creating a new admin account on your PC if you still get a disabled administrator account problem. You can create a user account and then convert it to an Administrator account. Use the Settings app to create a new administrator account by following the below instructions:

• Open the Settings app and go to Accounts > Family & other users option.
• Now, select Add someone else to this PC option from the right panel.
• On the next prompt, select I don’t have this person’s sign-in information option.
• Next, select Add a user without a Microsoft account, then enter the preferred name and password for your account, and then press the Next button.
• You will now see the newly added account on the Accounts page. To make it an Administrator account, click on it and then select the Account Type option under it.
• Set the Account Type to Administrator and press the OK button.

This will create an administrator account that you can start using.

6] Use PowerShell to Enable Hidden Administrator Account

Another trick to fix the disabled administrator account issue is to try enabling the hidden administrator account using Powershell.

Press Windows + X key to open up the shortcut menu and select Windows Powershell (Admin) option from it.

Alternately, go to the search box and type PowerShell and then open the Powershell app using the Run as administrator option.

Next, type and execute this command in Powershell:

Enable-LocalUser -Name "Administrator"

Doing so should enable you to access your administrator account on Windows 11/10.

Hopefully, this guide was helpful in case you were unable to access your administrator account on Windows 11/10.

Now read: Your IT administrator has disabled Windows Security

In a Windows operating system, an Administrator account is an account that allows a user to make changes that require administrative permissions. An Administrator has more rights on a Windows OS as compared to the users with a local account. For example, the users with a local or standard account can access files and folders on their own user space, make system changes that do not require administrative permissions, install and uninstall programs, etc. On the other hand, an Administrator can change security settings, install and uninstall software, add and remove users, make changes to other user accounts, etc. In short, to perform the tasks that require administrative permissions, you should be logged in as an Administrator. In this tutorial, we will see how to log in as an Administrator in Windows 11/10.

Every Windows computer has a Local Administrator account that is created at the time of Windows installation. As described above, the Administrator has full access to the Windows device as compared to other standard users. The Administrator can also create new and delete the existing users and change the user account permissions. You can log in as an Administrator in Windows 11/10 by:

1. Using the existing Administrator Account
2. Enabling the built-in Administrator account
3. Creating a new Local Administrator account
4. Changing the local or standard into an Administrator account

Let’s see all these methods in detail.

1] Using the existing Administrator Account

If you are starting your PC then locate the Administrator account and use the password to login.

If you are currently not logged in as an administrator and want to change to an admin, open Start, click on the user icon, select Sign out and then log into the Admin account by using its password.

2] Enabling the built-in Administrator account

The Windows OS has a built-in Administrator account. In Windows 11/10 and Windows Server 2016, the built-in Administrator account is disabled at the time of Windows installation and another local account is created which is the member of the Administrators group.

The built-in Administrator account is also called the Super Administrator account. If we compare the built-in Administrator account with the Local Administrator account, the built-in Administrator account has elevated privileges. This means when you perform the administrative tasks, you will not get the UAC prompt. Apart from that, if you want to do some serious troubleshooting on your Windows machine or if you want to recover your main account or another user account, you can use the built-in Administrator account.

Because the built-in Administrator account does not show the UAC prompt, any application can have full control over your system. Therefore, running this account on a regular basis can be risky. You should enable the built-in Administrator account only if you have to do some troubleshooting or recover other user accounts. After performing your task, you should disable it.

As explained above, every Windows OS has a Local Administrator account which is created at the time of Windows installation. Hence, you have to sign in to that Local Administrator account in order to enable the built-in Administrator account. After enabling the built-in Administrator account, you can login as an Administrator in Windows 11/10.

3] Creating a new Local Administrator account

Every Windows 11/10 computer has a default Local Administrator account which is created at the time of Windows installation. Using that account, you can create another Local Administrator account for another user. To do so, open the Accounts page in your Windows 11/10 Settings and then click on the Family & other users option. Now, you have two options:

• You can create a Local Administrator account for your family member.
• You can create a Local Administrator account for a person who is not your family member.

Let’s see how to create a Local Administrator account for a family member and other users.

 Create a Local Administrator account for your family member

You can use this option if you have another Microsoft account and you want to add that account as an Administrator to your Windows computer.

1. On the Family & other users page in Windows 11/10 Settings, click on the Add account button next to the Add a family member option.
2. Enter the email address of the family member and click Next.
3. Select the role (organizer or member) and click Invite. After that, an invite will be sent to the email address.
4. Open the email address and accept the invitation. After accepting the invitation, that account will be added automatically to your Windows device.
5. Now, open the Family & other users page in WIndows 11/10 Accounts settings and select the newly added account.
6. Click Change account type and select Administrator in the drop-down and click OK.

Now, you can login as an Administrator in Windows 11/10 using that account.

Create a Local Administrator account for a person who is not your family member

If you do not have another Microsoft account, you can still create a Local Administrator account. This time, you have to add an account in the Other users section on the Family & other users page. The steps are as follows:

1. Open the Family & other users page in Windows 11/10 Accounts settings.
2. Click on the Add account button next to Add other user.
3. You will be prompted to enter your email address. Click on the I don’t have this person’s sign-in information link.
4. Now, click Add a user without a Microsoft account.
5. Enter your username and password. After that, select the security questions and type your answers.
6. Click Next.
7. Now, select the newly created account and click Change account type.
8. Select Administrator in the drop-down and click OK.

Now, you can use this account to login as an Administrator in Windows 11/10.

Read: How to rename built-in Administrator Account in Windows.

4] Changing the local or standard account into an Administrator account

If you already have created a local account on your Windows machine, you can change its type and use that account to login as an Administrator. The steps to change the local account to an Administrator account are as follows:

1. Open the Family & other users page in Windows 11/10 Accounts settings.
2. Select the local user account under the Other users section.
3. Click on the Change account type button and select Administrator in the drop-down.
4. Now, click OK.

How do I log onto my computer as an Administrator?

At the time of Windows installation, a Local Administrator account is created automatically. You can use that account to log onto your computer as an Administrator. Apart from that, you can also enable the hidden or built-in Administrator account or create an additional Local Administrator account.

We have explained all these methods above in this article.

How do I run Windows as an Administrator?

To run Windows as an Administrator, you should have an Administrator account. There are different methods by which you can create an Administrator account. In addition to this, you can also enable the built-in Administrator account. But it is not recommended to use the built-in Administrator account on a regular basis due to security issues.

This is all about how to log in as an Administrator in Windows 11/10.

Read next: How to fix the disabled Administrator account on Windows 11/10.

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