During installation of the system, Windows requires you to create a personal user account to which administrator permissions are automatically assigned, but with additional protection (called UAC), which displays a warning window every time a program or process requests high permits to operate.In fact, the account we are going to create when Windows starts is a user account with the possibility of elevating its administrative privileges, a convenient and practical solution already seen on Mac and Linux but which we also find on Windows 10.
The Windows Administrator account it has not disappeared, but it is disabled by default, so as to significantly increase the security of our computer. This means that when you log in to your computer it does not appear among the selectable users.
Although it is a good thing that the administrator account is disabled, it can come in handy from time to time to perform some operations on the system without having interruptions, restrictions and lockups.
Let's see in this guide how to activate the administrator account of the Windows computer.
How to activate the administrator account on Windows 10
In order to activate the administrator account on Windows 10 we can follow one of the methods indicated below, all effective to achieve the purpose. Obviously we try to use this special account only when the computer is locked or we are unable to uninstall a program.
The procedures described can also be repeated to deactivate the account in question, so as to make it hidden and unusable (as per the default settings of Windows).
Activate the administrator account from the command prompt
The easiest way to activate the administrator account on Windows 10 is to use the command prompt.
To use this method, press WIN on the keyboard, type CMD in the search box and press press on Run as administrator in the box on the right (the best match should be selected, i.e. Command prompt).
After launching the elevated command prompt, we type the following command:
net user administrator / active: yes
then we press the button Submit on the keyboard and restart the PC. Upon reboot we will be able to choose whether to log in with our user account or with the administrator account.
If we want to disable the previously activated Windows administrator account we can always operate from the command prompt, all we have to do is run the command:
net user administrator / active: no
it's at confirm by pressing the key Submit on the keyboard.
Activate the administrator account from the local group
To enable the hidden administrator account we can also open the configuration screen of local users and groups and act from there.
In this regard, we press the keys WIN + R together to open the window Run and run the command lusrmgr.msc. From the window that will open, in the left pane, we press on Users to see the names of the accounts in the central pane.
We double click on the account Administrator to open the properties window, deselect the option Account disabled and press on apply to activate it. We then close the window of local users and groups, restart the computer and log in with the account Administrator visible on the login screen.
Repeating the steps and reapplying the tick on Account disabled we will be able to deactivate the account again after work is complete.
Activate the administrator account from Local Security Policy
Another method of enabling the hidden administrator account on corporate PCs or on PCs configured for use in the business environment involves the use of Local security criteria which may not be available in all editions of Windows (we can only find it on Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise).
To use it we open the window Run (by pressing the WIN + R keys simultaneously) and enter the command secpol.msc. In the window Local security criteria, click on Local criteria left and then up Security options. On the right, we look for the entry Account: Administrator account status, click on it and check the item On.
Finally, press on apply, close the window and restart the PC, so that we can select the Administrator account; repeat the steps above to disable it (we will only have to tick the item Off in the previously viewed screen).
To learn more about advanced administrative tools, we can read our guide How to use the Windows Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc).
How to create a new user account with administrative permissions
Do we want to create a new user with administrative permissions? In this case, simply press the Start button at the bottom left, open the Settings app and take us to the path Accounts -> Family and other users.
We press on the item Add another user to this PC, we follow the steps indicated to add a Microsoft account or a local account, then select the item at the right time Administrator from the drop down menu Account type.
To know every detail about adding a new user account, we can read our guides How to change administrator on PC and Mac is How to get administrator privileges on Windows 10.
Conclusions
If we activate the administrator account it is very important to protect it with a password, otherwise anyone can use it and damage the PC; in this regard, just read our guide on how Secure Windows administrator and guest accounts to log on to the computer, so that we can maximize security for these special accounts available on Windows 10.
If our computer is also used by minor children, it is better to create an account all for them, also following the suggestions seen in the guide Control how children use the PC and internet with Windows Family accounts.