All Mac computers require an administrator account to function properly and perform certain tasks, from installing certain software to changing certain system preferences. There are a number of different situations that can cause a Mac to lose an administrator account, often when a user tries to do soadd a new administrator accountofNew useraccount for Mac, or rename an existing user account.
Anyway, if there is no administrator account available on Mac, here's how to add an administrator account to macOS in macOS Monterey, Big Sur, and earlier.
Missing Mac administrator account? Create a new administrator account in macOS
This process involves booting into recovery mode to remove an installation file from the Mac, which will allow the macOS Setup Assistant to run again so you can create a new administrative account on the Mac. This works with macOS Monterey and Big Sur, and earlier, for both M1 and Intel Macs.
- Start your Mac in recovery mode by restarting your Mac and holding down Command+R (Intel Macs) or the power button (M1 Macs)
- For M1 Macs, select "Settings" from the startup menu that appears
cd /Volumes/Macintosh\HD/var/db/
rm.AppleSetupDone
You have now created a new administrator account, which is new and completely different from your standard user account. The default user account and all user data still exist, assuming this was done correctly.
You can use this administrative user account to authenticate with administrative requests and logins as needed, or you can change the original user account to become an administrative account again. We'll discuss that next time.
How to set the default user account to an administrator account in macOS
Do you want to restore your original Mac user account to become an administrator account again? It's easy:
- Boot into the newly created administrator account, then open the Apple menu and select 'System Preferences'
- Go to "Users & Groups" and click on the padlock icon to be able to change user accounts
- Select the original user account for which you want to change administrative privileges
- Check the box for 'Allow the user to manage this computer'
- Restart the Mac, this time logging into the original user account, which now has the privileges upgraded to an administrator user account
If you feel so inclined, you can do sodelete the temporarily created admin user accountfrom the Mac, or leave it alone and make it available as a backup administrator account or even as the only administrator account.
There are other options if you find yourself in a situation where the administrator account becomes a standard user account, e.g.
convert a standard user account to an administrator account via the command line, which is more suitable for advanced users.
Have you encountered this issue where an administrator account is downgraded to a standard user account? Did the above solution solve this problem for you by creating a new administrator account and then giving administrator access to the original user account? Have you found another solution? Tell us your experiences in the comments.
