If you’re having trouble logging on to Windows 10 as an administrator, you’re not alone. Many users have reported this issue, but there are a few things you can try to fix it. In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps on how to log on as an administrator in Windows 10, even if you don’t know the password.
First, try restarting your computer. This may seem like a simple solution, but it can often fix the problem. If restarting your computer doesn’t work, try the following steps:
1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type “netplwiz” (without the quotes) into the Run dialog box and press Enter.
3. In the User Accounts window, select the user account that you want to log on to as an administrator.
4. Click the “Properties” button.
5. In the User Properties window, select the “Group Membership” tab.
6. Under “Group Membership,” select the “Administrator” group and click the “OK” button.
7. Click the “OK” button again to close the User Accounts window.
8. Restart your computer.
Using the Built-In Administrator Account
The built-in Administrator account is a hidden user account in Windows 10 that has full administrative privileges. By default, this account is disabled, but it can be enabled and used to troubleshoot problems or perform administrative tasks. To enable the built-in Administrator account, follow these steps:
Enable the Built-In Administrator Account Using Command Prompt
1. Open an elevated Command Prompt by right-clicking the Start button and selecting “Command Prompt (Admin).”
2. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter:
“`
net user administrator /active:yes
“`
3. This will enable the built-in Administrator account. To log in to the account, restart your computer and select the Administrator account from the login screen.
Enable the Built-In Administrator Account Using Registry Editor
1. Open the Registry Editor by pressing the Windows key + R, typing “regedit,” and pressing Enter.
2. Navigate to the following registry key:
“`
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\Userlist
“`
3. Double-click the “Administrator” key in the right-hand pane and set the “Value data” to 1.
4. Click OK and close the Registry Editor. Restart your computer to enable the changes.
Disable the Built-In Administrator Account
To disable the built-in Administrator account, follow the same steps as above but change the “Value data” to 0.
Enabling the Administrator Account
To enable the Administrator account, follow these steps:
- Open the Command Prompt as an administrator.
To do this, press the Windows key + X and select “Command Prompt (Admin)”. - Type the following command and press Enter:
net user administrator /active:yes
- You should see a message that says “The command completed successfully”.
The Administrator account is now enabled and you can log in to it.
Understanding the Elevated Command Prompt
When you open the Command Prompt as an administrator, you are granted elevated privileges. This means that you can perform tasks that require administrative rights, such as enabling and disabling user accounts.
The Elevated Command Prompt is a powerful tool, but it is important to use it responsibly. Only execute commands that you understand and are confident will not cause any harm to your system.
What to Do If You Get an Error
If you get an error message when trying to enable the Administrator account, it is likely because you do not have sufficient privileges.
Error Message | Solution |
---|---|
“Access denied” | Make sure that you are logged in as an administrator. |
“The command completed successfully, but the account is still disabled” | Try restarting your computer. |
“The user name could not be found” | The Administrator account may have been deleted. You will need to create a new Administrator account. |
Logging On Using Safe Mode
Safe mode is a diagnostic mode of Windows that loads only the essential drivers and services required to run the operating system. This can be useful for troubleshooting problems that may be caused by third-party software or drivers.
To log on to Windows 10 in safe mode, follow these steps:
- Restart your computer.
- When the Windows logo appears, press and hold the “Shift” key.
- From the recovery menu, select “Troubleshoot” > “Advanced options” > “Startup Settings” > “Restart”.
- Once your computer restarts, you will see a list of startup options. Press the number that corresponds to “Safe Mode with Networking”.
Once you are logged on to safe mode, you will be able to access your administrator account by following the steps outlined above.
Using the Command Prompt
If you are unable to log on to Windows 10 using the methods described above, you can try using the command prompt to reset your administrator password.
To do this, follow these steps:
- Create a bootable USB drive or DVD using the Windows 10 ISO file.
- Boot your computer from the USB drive or DVD.
- When the Windows Setup screen appears, press “Shift” + “F10” to open the command prompt.
Command | Description |
---|---|
diskpart | Launches the Diskpart utility |
list volume | Lists all volumes on your computer |
select volume X | Selects the volume where Windows is installed (usually volume C) |
assign letter=C | Assigns the letter “C” to the selected volume |
exit | Exits the Diskpart utility |
cd C:\Windows\System32 | Changes the directory to the Windows\System32 folder |
ren utilman.exe utilman.exe.bak | Renames the Utilman.exe file to Utilman.exe.bak |
copy cmd.exe utilman.exe | Copies the Cmd.exe file to Utilman.exe |
exit | Exits the command prompt |
Once you have completed these steps, you can restart your computer and log on to your administrator account using the command prompt. To do this, follow these steps:
- On the login screen, click on the “Ease of Access” button in the bottom-right corner.
- Click on the “On-Screen Keyboard” button.
- In the On-Screen Keyboard, click on the “Windows” key and the “R” key simultaneously.
- In the Run dialog box, type “cmd” and press “Enter”.
You will now be able to use the command prompt to reset your administrator password. To do this, type the following command and press “Enter”:
net user administrator *
You will be prompted to enter a new password for your administrator account. Once you have entered the new password, press “Enter” twice to save it.
Creating a New Administrator Account
Follow these steps to create a new administrator account:
1. Sign in with an existing Administrator Account
if you already have access to an administrator account, use it to sign in to your Windows 10 PC.
2. Open Settings
Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings app.
3. Go to Accounts
Click on the “Accounts” option in the Settings app.
4. Select Family & Other Users
In the left-hand menu of the Accounts page, click on the “Family & other users” option.
5. Add a new user
Under the “Add someone else to this PC” section, click on the “Add someone else to this PC” button.
6. Enter the Microsoft account credentials of the new user:
If you want the new user to have a Microsoft account, enter their email address and password. If you don’t have a Microsoft account, you can create one by clicking on the “Create one!” link.
If you want to create a local account instead, follow these steps:
– Click on the “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information” link.
– Enter a username and password for the new local account.
– Click on the “Next” button.
– Click on the “Finish” button.
If you want to create a local account instead, follow these steps: |
---|
– Enter a username and password for the new local account. – Click on the “Next” button. – Click on the “Finish” button. |
Using the Command Prompt
The Command Prompt is a powerful tool that can be used to perform a variety of tasks, including logging on as an administrator. To use the Command Prompt to log on as an administrator, follow these steps:
- Click the Start button.
- In the search box, type "cmd."
- Right-click on the Command Prompt icon and select "Run as administrator."
- At the command prompt, type the following command:
net user administrator /active:yes
- Press Enter.
- You will be prompted to enter a password for the administrator account. Enter the password and press Enter.
- You will now be logged on as an administrator.
**Additional notes for
Step 7
:- If you do not know the password for the administrator account, you can reset it using the following steps:
Command Description net user administrator * Deletes the password for the administrator account. net user administrator Sets the password for the administrator account to . Modifying the Registry
The Windows Registry is a database that stores configuration settings for the operating system and installed programs. It can be used to modify system settings, including the administrator password. However, editing the registry is a potentially dangerous operation, and should only be attempted by experienced users.
Manual Registry Edit
To modify the administrator password using the registry, follow these steps:
- Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
-
Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon.
- In the right pane, locate the DefaultUserName value and double-click it.
- Change the value data to the username of the account you want to log in as an administrator.
- Locate the DefaultPassword value and double-click it.
- Change the value data to the password you want to set for the administrator account.
- Click OK to save the changes and close the Registry Editor.
- Open a text editor, such as Notepad.
- Paste the script into the text editor.
- Save the file with a .reg extension, such as adminpassword.reg.
- Double-click the .reg file to merge it with the registry.
- Make sure that you are using the correct username and password.
- Make sure that the registry changes have been saved correctly.
- Try restarting the computer.
- Turn on your PC and press the F8 key repeatedly until you see the Windows 8 Advanced Startup Options menu.
- Select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Restore.
- Select the user account that you want to restore the PC to.
- Enter the password for the user account.
- Select Next.
- Select the restore point that you want to use.
- Select Next.
- Review the information on the confirmation screen and select Finish.
- Reset your password.
- Create a new user account.
- Contact your PC manufacturer for support.
- Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type “lusrmgr.msc” and press Enter.
- In the Local Users and Groups window, click on the “Groups” folder.
- Right-click on the “Administrator” group and select “Properties”.
- In the Properties window, uncheck the “Account is disabled” checkbox.
- Click “OK” to save your changes.
- Click on the Start menu and select “Settings”.
- Click on “Accounts” and then select “Other users”.
- Click on “Add someone else to this PC”.
- Enter the username and password for the administrator account.
- Click on “Next” and then “Finish”.
- Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type “netplwiz” and press Enter.
- In the User Accounts window, select the “Administrator” user and click on the “Reset Password…” button.
- Enter the new password twice and click on “OK”.
- Click on “OK” again to close the User Accounts window.
- Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type “lusrmgr.msc” and press Enter.
- In the Local Users and Groups window, click on the “Users” folder.
- Right-click on the “Administrator” user and select “Delete”.
- Click on “Yes” to confirm that you want to delete the user.
- Click on “OK” to close the Local Users and Groups window.
Automatic Registry Script
Here is a Registry script that you can use to modify the administrator password:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] "DefaultUserName"="Administrator" "DefaultPassword"="NewPassword"
To use this script, follow these steps:
After you have modified the registry, you should be able to log in to the administrator account using the new password.
Troubleshooting
If you are having trouble logging in to the administrator account after modifying the registry, try the following:
If you are still having problems, you can try resetting the administrator password using one of the other methods described in this guide.
Table of Supported Versions
Version Supported Windows 10 Enterprise Yes Windows 10 Professional Yes Windows 10 Education Yes Windows 10 Home No Restoring the PC to a Previous State
If you can’t log on to your PC because you forgot your password or PIN, you can try restoring it to a previous state. This will restore your PC to the way it was on a specific date.
To restore your PC to a previous state, follow these steps:
Additional information
System Restore does not affect personal files, such as photos, documents, and music. However, it will remove any programs that were installed after the restore point was created.
If you are unable to log on to your PC using System Restore, you can try the following:
Contacting Microsoft Support
If you’re still having trouble logging in as an administrator, you can contact Microsoft Support for help. Here are the steps on how to do it:
1. Open the Microsoft Support website.
Go to the Microsoft Support website at https://support.microsoft.com.
2. Click on the “Contact us” link.
This link is located at the top of the page, next to the search bar.
3. Select the “Windows” option.
This will take you to a page with a list of support options for Windows.
4. Click on the “Chat with a support agent” link.
This will open a chat window where you can talk to a Microsoft support agent.
5. Explain your problem to the support agent.
Let the support agent know that you’re having trouble logging in as an administrator, and provide them with as much detail as possible about the problem.
6. Follow the support agent’s instructions.
The support agent will likely ask you to perform a few troubleshooting steps. Follow their instructions carefully and see if that solves the problem.
7. If the problem is not resolved, the support agent may escalate your case.
If the support agent is unable to resolve the problem, they may escalate your case to a higher level of support. This may take some time, but you should eventually receive a resolution.
How to Log On Administrator Windows 10
To log on as administrator in Windows 10, you must first enable the built-in administrator account. Here’s how:
Now that the administrator account is enabled, you can log on to it by following these steps:
You can now log on to the administrator account by clicking on the user icon in the Start menu and selecting “Administrator”.
People Also Ask about How to Log On Administrator Windows 10
How do I enable the administrator account in Windows 10?
To enable the administrator account in Windows 10, follow the steps outlined in the first section of this article.
How do I change the password for the administrator account in Windows 10?
To change the password for the administrator account in Windows 10, follow these steps:
How do I remove the administrator account from Windows 10?
To remove the administrator account from Windows 10, follow these steps: