How to get admin rights on Windows

Windows separates user accounts into 2 levels: Administrator and Standard. Standard accounts can make changes that don't affect other people on the computer, such as personalization options or installing software themselves. However, you need an admin account to change the clock, access protected system files, add users, and perform similar actions.

Perhaps you tried to access something and were told that you don't have admin rights. Today's article will show you how to get admin rights on Windows 10.

First, make sure you have admin rights!

It sounds obvious, but perhaps you don't have admin rights on the computer because the owner doesn't want it to. On a company computer or one owned by your parents, friends, etc. you may be limited to the standard account so you can't make major changes.

If you need admin access on someone else's computer, ask them to make changes or updates to your account with admin rights.

User Account Control: Know your rights

Windows uses the blue and yellow User Account Control (UAC) shield icon to designate computer functions that require admin rights. If you try to perform the action, you will see two different prompts depending on whether you are an admin or not.

Admins just need to click Yes when asked if they want to allow the program to make changes. Standard accounts must enter an admin password to proceed.

This allows you to perform administrative functions without needing to log in to an admin account all the time. See the article: Learn about the nature of Windows UAC and why we should not turn off this feature for more information.

If you want to upgrade a standard account to an admin account, another admin will need to go to Settings > Accounts > Family & other users . Select your account under Other People (or Your Family ) and click the Change account type button .

Change it from Standard User to Administrator and you will have full privileges.

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Not disabling UAC is also a smart choice. Doing so will prevent standard accounts from seeing the UAC prompt, so attempts to perform admin actions will not result in a notification.

To test this, enter UAC into the Start menu and click the Change User Account Control setting . Make sure the slider is not set to the bottom option Never Notify. The second option from the top is the default and will work fine in almost all cases.

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Forgot your admin account password?

A common situation in which you cannot log in to the admin account is when you lose your password. Luckily, there is a workaround for this situation.

The article mentioned how to reset Windows password. If you use Microsoft login information for your admin account, you can easily reset your password through the Microsoft portal. Local accounts have several other methods to reset the password, but it will take some effort.

Once you restore your account password, you will have full admin rights again.

How to get admin rights on Windows

How to get admin rights on Windows 10 with Command Prompt

If you prefer to use the command line rather than the GUI, you can do the following to get admin rights on Windows 10!

1. Enter command prompt or cmd in the search box. Then, from the search results, right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator to open CMD with admin rights.

2. You will receive a User Account Control confirmation screen asking you to allow the program to make changes to the computer, click Yes.

3. On Command Prompt , to list all users on the computer, enter the command below and press Enter.

net user

4. Copy the username for the user you want to grant admin rights to.

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5. Finally, to grant admin rights on Windows 10 to the user, type the command below and press Enter.

Net Localgroup Administrators UserName /add

Replace UserName with the username for the user you want to add to the administrators group. In this example, the author wants to add the user, NewLocalUser, to the local administrators group. Here is the modified command:

Net Localgroup Administrators NewLocalUser /add

6. If the command returns "The command completed successfully" , you have successfully granted admin rights.

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7. To remove admin rights, enter the command below and press Enter.

Net Localgroup Administrators NewLocalUser /Delete

8. If the command returns "The command completed successfully" , the user's admin rights have been revoked.

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How to get admin rights on Windows 10 with PowerShell

PowerShell is Microsoft's latest tool that helps Windows administrators automate Windows tasks. If you want to use PowerShell to grant admin access, follow the steps below…

1. Enter powershell in the search box. Then, on the right pane of the search results, under Windows PowerShell , click Run as Administrator .

2. You will receive User Account Control asking for permission to allow PowerShell to open, click Yes.

3. Then, on the PowerShell command prompt, to list all users on the local PC, enter the command below and press Enter :

Get-LocalUser

4. The command will list all local users on the computer. Note the username for the user you want to add to the administrators group.

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5. Then, to grant admin rights on Windows 10 using PowerShell, enter this command and press Enter :

Add-LocalGroupMember -Group Administrators -Member NewLocalUser

Replace NewLocalUser with the username you want to grant admin rights to.

6. To confirm that the user is now a member of the local administrators group, enter the command below and press Enter .

Get-LocalGroupMember -Name administrators

7. Users will be listed as members:

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8. If you want to revoke admin rights, use the command below.

Remove-LocalGroupMember -Group Administrators -Member NewLocalUser

Replace NewLocalUser with the username you want to make admin.

9. Finally, to confirm that the user has been successfully removed from the local administrators group, use the command below…

Get-LocalGroupMember -Name administrators

10. The result of the command confirms that the user, NewLocalUser, is no longer in the Administrators group.

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Solution to replace the integrated admin account

If you try to open Command Prompt with admin rights above and cannot do it because of lack of admin rights, you will have to enable the admin account using a workaround.

To do this, please refer to the guide: Forgot Windows 10 password, this is how to break Windows 10 password without using a third tool for more details.

How to fix admin rights on your own account

Once you're logged in with an admin account, you can use Windows tools to troubleshoot problems on your own admin account. Start by visiting the same account page as before to make sure your account is actually an admin: Settings > Accounts > Family & other users .

Click your account name under Other users (or Your family , if applicable) and then press the Change account type button . Change the drop-down box from Standard User to Administrator if not already done.

Another way to do this is through the User Accounts page. Type netplwiz into the Start menu (or Run Win + menu R) to access it. Here, you will see a list of every user on the machine.

Click a user and press the Properties button , then select the Group Membership tab. You can change the account from Standard users to Administrator. The Other option contains many other account types that are not as common.

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There's another place you should check to make sure you're not missing out on any permissions. Open a File Explorer window to This PC. Under Devices and drives , right-click the primary storage drive (probably the C: drive) and select Properties.

In the resulting window, switch to the Security tab. Next, click the Advanced button near the bottom. You'll see a complete list of permissions for each user group on your PC. This will be different if you've made changes, but here's an idea of ​​what a typical list of permissions looks like:

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Make sure that the Administrators group has Full Control listed for Access. If not, then you'll see why you can't see all the files. Click the Change permissions button first to make changes, then double-click the group to modify.

Make sure to check the Full control box for the Administrators group. Remember, you shouldn't change anything else that you're not sure about here. If you're still having problems, try creating a new admin account at Settings > Accounts > Family & other users > Add someone else to this PC .

Good luck!

Samuel Daniel

Update 28 June 2024