Reclaiming Administrator rights in Windows 11


This will tell you which accounts are in the Administrators group and whether they're enabled.

Powershell: 
Get-LocalGroup 'Administrators' | Get-LocalGroupMember | % { Get-LocalUser -SID $_.SID }
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 25H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC12WSHi7
    CPU
    12th Gen Core i7-1260P
    Motherboard
    NUC12WSBi7
    Memory
    64 GB Micron PC4-25600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    on-board Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3219Q
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB
    Crucial MX500 2 TB
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
dacrone said:
i ask because if you make a bootable windows installation usb, you can unlock and bypass the password to the Administrator account using it to enable a system level command prompt (a lot easier than it sounds)
Click to expand...
Does it require administrator rights? I'll give it a go if it doesn't require admin rights.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Laptop
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core i3-1215u (1.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32 RAM

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Laptop
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core i3-1215u (1.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32 RAM
you can try from the safe mode option but i cant guarantee if it'll bypass it:

click start > type Advanced Startup > Restart Now button

it'll boot to:
1762202207769.webp

choose troubleshoot > Command Prompt

1762202235588.webp

then run these commands:

Code: 
net user Administrator /active:yes

Code: 
net user Administrator PASSWORD

replace PASSWORD with whatever password you want set. then type "Exit" and boot back into windows. Administrator user account on the logon screen should be enabled if it worked.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
dacrone said:
you can try from the safe mode option but i cant guarantee if it'll bypass it:

click start > type Advanced Startup > Restart Now button

it'll boot to:
View attachment 151477

choose troubleshoot > Command Prompt

View attachment 151478

then run these commands:

Code: 
net user Administrator /active:yes

Code: 
net user Administrator PASSWORD

replace PASSWORD with whatever password you want set. then type "Exit" and boot back into windows. Administrator user account on the logon screen should be enabled if it worked.
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Laptop
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core i3-1215u (1.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32 RAM
Thanks. I tried this. Everything says successful but I reboot and am back to square one with no Administrative right.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Laptop
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core i3-1215u (1.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32 RAM
you do not have your user account AND Administrator on the logon screen, but it said successful?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
microsoft taking over your laptop 😅
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    windows 11 home 23H2 22631.6199
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel core i7 (2nd gen) Turbo 3.10 ghz
    Memory
    6gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Amd Radeon HD 7400m 1GB & Intel hd graphics
    Sound Card
    BeatsAudio
    Hard Drives
    128gb SSD
  • Operating System
    macOS Sequoia
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    iMac 24"
    CPU
    M1 3.2 ghz
    Memory
    8gb onboard
    Graphics card(s)
    igpu
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Retina 4.5K
    Screen Resolution
    4480x2520
    Hard Drives
    512gb SSD
dacrone said:
you do not have your user account AND Administrator on the logon screen, but it said successful?
Click to expand...
Yes. It seems once Microsoft has overridden admin rights in Windows 11 Home Edition, they ain't giving it up.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Laptop
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core i3-1215u (1.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32 RAM
thats not applicable to the commands you ran at all. the commands you ran enable the hidden (always present) Administrator account. if it said successful but nothing showed on the logon screen and you reimaged the pc/are the only user but have no admin rights, the image sounds corrupted to me...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
dacrone said:
thats not applicable to the commands you ran at all. the commands you ran enable the hidden (always present) Administrator account. if it said successful but nothing showed on the logon screen and you reimaged the pc/are the only user but have no admin rights, the image sounds corrupted to me...
Click to expand...
Then I will try again and I'll get a screen shot or camera shot. I'll try again now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Laptop
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core i3-1215u (1.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32 RAM
1) you posted your screenshot with your password in plaintext. if you use that elsewhere, i recommend removing that image

2) exit is a separate command.
everything before Exit (net user Administrator PASSWORD) is correct. press enter. then on a new entry, type exit and enter again. that will close command prompt.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
gigglby said:
User Account Control window. I have no yes button that would allow me to continue
Click to expand...
And it was for precisely this condition that I wrote the procedure I did.
Try3 said:
The user account created during installation has Admin rights but yours seems to be corrupt.
Fix UAC prompt has greyed out or missing Yes button - TenForumsTutorials
The Windows 10 fix applies to Windows 11 as well but I've never before seen the problem reported in ElevenForum so have never felt the need to adjust the article to cope with OS differences.
Click to expand...



Denis
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 25H2 Build 26200.8037
gigglby said:
I followed a Youtube tech's instructions to fix the no Yes button problem. As I stated earlier, everything was going fine until we got to the tabs to change. His had Local Users & Groups, mine did not have that option. So it was a dead end.
Click to expand...
I am going to try your Fix UAC prompt.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Laptop
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core i3-1215u (1.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32 RAM
gigglby said:
I tried this but it requires admin rights.
Click to expand...
Clean install does not require Admin rights.
What exactly did you look at that made you think otherwise?


Denis
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 25H2 Build 26200.8037
gigglby said:
It seems once Microsoft has overridden admin rights
Click to expand...
No, it's a fault condition. A corrupted user account.
It's been seen since Windows 7 if not earlier.
It is not nearly as common these days as it was a decade ago.

gigglby said:
I am going to try your Fix UAC prompt
Click to expand...
Good.
Try3 said:
The user account created during installation has Admin rights but yours seems to be corrupt.
Fix UAC prompt has greyed out or missing Yes button - TenForumsTutorials
The Windows 10 fix applies to Windows 11 as well but I've never before seen the problem reported in ElevenForum so have never felt the need to adjust the article to cope with OS differences.
Click to expand...
The procedure has been used successfully many times in TenForums & in other forums.
The only complication will be that you'll have to cross-refer to ElevenForumTutorials in place of the TenForumsTutorials for which the procedure was written.


Best of luck,
Denis
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 25H2 Build 26200.8037
dacrone said:
do you have a usb and the windows iso available?
Click to expand...
I do have a USB to which I downloaded Rufus.ie. Guess what you need to boot from your USB port. That's right...admin rights. I'm going through the "replace the yes button" info, but it's a lot for a guy who can follow steps, but is far from being computer savvy.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Laptop
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core i3-1215u (1.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32 RAM
gigglby said:
Guess what you need to boot from your USB port. That's right...admin rights
Click to expand...
No, no, no.
Booting is done outside of Windows. it's just between you & your Bios. There is no concept of Admin rights.
There would be a restriction iff you had deliberately put a password in your Bios to achieve that. But it has nothing to do with Windows Admin permissions.
Boot from USB Drive - ElevenForumTutorials


Denis
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 25H2 Build 26200.8037
gigglby said:
I do have a USB to which I downloaded Rufus.ie. Guess what you need to boot from your USB port. That's right...admin rights. I'm going through the "replace the yes button" info, but it's a lot for a guy who can follow steps, but is far from being computer savvy.
Click to expand...
Rufus should be installed on a different computer, and Rufus should not be burned to the Flash Drive. Either Download the Windows 11 ISO image from Microsoft Download Windows 11
Or via Rufus. Put a blank USB Flash drive in, and to the right of Boot Selection, click the down arrow for Select and choose Download.
This will download the Windows 11 ISO from Rufus's server or click Select and browse it to the downloaded ISO you saved.
Click the Start Button in Rufus to burn the ISO to the Flash Drive.

pureinfotech.com

How to create bootable USB drive for Windows 11 with Rufus (2026) - Pureinfotech

Rufus lets you create a bootable Windows 11 USB for supported and unsupported hardware. Also, it offers the option to download the ISO file.
pureinfotech.com pureinfotech.com
Once the USB Flash drive has been burned successfully, put it into the Troubled computer.
Stat the computer and with an HP laptop, press the F9 key continuously. Click the Flash Drive to boot from.
Follow pictures from the link in post #8. For Clean Install of Windows.
You are booting from the Flash Drive so Admin rights are not an issue.

Basically once you boot into the USB Flash drive Windows installer,
Choose your language, then Install now than Custom Install.
In Where Would You Like to Install Windows? Select each partition and click the Delete button
Until the drive is all Unallocated Space, then Press Next.

the Windows installer will do all the rest, just follow the on screen prompts.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro Insider 64 bit 25H2 26200.5742
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Gigabyte Z390 UD
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 9700K 3.60
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z390 UD
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GEForce RTX 2060 Super
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Two 27" Dell 4K monitors
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    M.2 NVME SSD, 500 GB; Two 2TB Mechanical HDD's
    PSU
    850w PSU
    Case
    Cyberpower PC
    Cooling
    Water cooled
    Keyboard
    Backlit Cyberpower gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    Backlit Cyberpower gaming mouse
    Internet Speed
    1 GB mbps
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
Try3 said:
No, no, no.
Booting is done outside of Windows. it's just between you & your Bios. There is no concept of Admin rights.
There would be a restriction iff you had deliberately put a password in your Bios to achieve that. But it has nothing to do with Windows Admin permissions.
Boot from USB Drive - ElevenForumTutorials


Denis
Click to expand...
I followed youtube tech AskLeo on how to download an iso copy of Windows to a usb. This is the video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTi7A8C2q38&t=129s. Then I downloaded rufus from Rufus - The Official Website (Download, New Releases). When I clicked on the D: drive I got the yes-less User Account Control window. Will a clean usb iso copy of Windows go straight to Bios and setup bypassing any admin interference?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Laptop
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core i3-1215u (1.20 GHz)
    Memory
    32 RAM
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