How to activate the hidden administrator account

Summary

How to activate the hidden administrator account in Windows. You may need to do this when installing Sage products.

Resolution

How to log in as an administrator
The following steps contain everything you need to log you in as an administrator.
  1. Click Start and then type cmd then press Enter.
  2. Right-click on cmd in the start menu and then click Run as administrator.
  3. Type in the following and press enter:
    net user administrator /active:yes
How to log in as an administrator on Windows 10
The following steps contain everything you need to log you in as an administrator on Windows 10.
  1. Click Start and then type CMD, then press Enter.
  2. Simultaneously press the Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys.
  3. The UAC box to open elevated Command Prompt will appear, click Yes.
  4. Type in the following and press enter:
    net user administrator /active:yes

You have now activated the administrator account. Log out of the user account and log in as the admin user and retry the action you were attempting before.

To deactivate the admin account, log in as your regular user. Repeat step 1 and type the following and press enter:
net user administrator /active:no

 TIP: Don’t run the deactivate command if your original username was Administrator or Admin. This can lock you out of your system. 

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Solution Properties

Solution ID
200427112310312
Last Modified Date
Wed Sep 03 13:03:36 UTC 2025
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