Want to turn your primary Windows account into a normal user’s or accept administrator privileges? Find out here how to change your account type in Windows 10 and Windows 11.
First, One Small Step
talked about some 2,000 years ago, in Plato’s most linguistic dialog Cratylos, where Socrates explains Heracleitus’s likening the universe to a river’s current:
“you cannot step twice into the same stream.”
“True,” says Hermogenes.
“True,” you may think, “I hope of my Windows account: I do not want to step into the administrator’s stream again”. You need not. All it takes is a few small, yes, steps:
How to Change the Account Type in Windows 10 and Windows 11
Time needed: 5 minutes
To choose your Windows account type in Windows 7-11:
- Get administration access for the Windows PC.
Here’s how: Make sure you are either currently an administrator yourself on the computer, have access to an admin account in Windows or have a person who can authenticate as an administrator around.
- Click the Start button in Windows.
- Start typing
control panel. - Select Control Panel with type Desktop app as soon as you see it in search results.
- Select User Accounts.
- Click User Accounts again.
Your type: Here, you can also find out your current account type: if, under your name or email address, it says, Administrator, you are an admin; otherwise, your account is that of a standard user.
- Now click Change your account type.
- If you are not yourself currently an administrator, get admin approval.
Here’s how: Have an administrator enter their credentials in the User Account Control window; have them type their PIN, for example, or enter their username and password, then click Yes.
- Under Select your new account type, choose between Standard and Administrator.
- Click Change Account Type.
How to Change Windows User Account Types as an Administrator
To change any user’s account type as a Windows administrator:
- Click Start.
- Select Settings or the Settings gear icon (⚙️).
- Now choose Accounts in the Windows Settings window.
- Go to the Family & other users category (under Accounts).
- Click the user whose Windows account type you want to change under either Your family or Other users.
- Select Change account type.
- Under Account type, choose the desired Windows account type.
- Click OK.
How to Change the Account Type in Windows: FAQ
What Windows account types are there?
Windows offers two essential account types:
- Standard User: can use Windows and applications.
- Administrator: can use Windows and applications, make substantial changes to the operating system, and add or remove users as well as change account types or log out other users.
What Windows account type should I use?
For your day-to-day use of Windows, it is best to use a standard user account.
Ideally, keep a separate administrator account for performing administrative tasks, howbeit cumbersome that may be at times. You can also right-click an application in Windows and select Run as administrator from its context menu.
(How to change your account type tested with Windows 11 Version 22H2 and Windows 10 Version 21H1; updated December 2023)