Not showing administrator account

Hello

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

It sounds like you're facing an issue where your local administrator account is not appearing after a restart, and you're unable to perform tasks requiring administrator privileges because you're signed in with your company email account. There are a few steps you can try to resolve this issue and regain access to administrative permissions on your laptop.

Step 1: Check if the Local Administrator Account is Disabled

Sometimes, local administrator accounts can be disabled accidentally, especially if they’re created through settings and then not properly configured. Here’s how you can check and enable it:

1.1. Access Windows Settings (if possible):

Sign in with your company account (since that’s what you can access).

Right-click on the Start button and choose Windows PowerShell (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin), depending on your version of Windows.

If you can't open it directly due to permission issues, try pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, then select File > Run new task, check Create this task with administrative privileges, and enter powershell.

1.2. Enable the Administrator Account via PowerShell:

In the PowerShell window, type the following command to enable the built-in administrator account:
net user administrator /active: yes

Press Enter. This will activate the local Administrator account.

If the local admin account is already activated, you’ll see a message saying that the command completed successfully. You should now be able to log into this account during the next restart.

1.3. Switch to the Administrator Account:

Once the administrator account is enabled, restart your laptop.

On the login screen, you should see the Administrator account as an option.

Log into this account and verify if you have the necessary permissions.

Step 2: Check Group Policy for Hidden Accounts

If the administrator account is still hidden after activation, there might be a group policy that hides it. To check and resolve this:

2.1. Access Group Policy Editor (if accessible):

Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and hit Enter. (Note that this might not be available in all editions of Windows, such as Windows Home.)

Navigate to the following location:
Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System

In the right pane, find Accounts: Administrator account status and ensure it is Not Configured or set to Enabled.

If it is set to Disabled, change it to Enabled.

Restart your system to check if the administrator account appears.

Step 3: Create a New Local Administrator Account

If the previous steps don’t work or you can’t access the built-in administrator account, you may want to create a new local administrator account via the Settings or Command Prompt.

3.1. Create a New Local Administrator Account (via Command Prompt):

Open Command Prompt as Administrator:

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, go to File > Run new task, check Create this task with administrative privileges, and type cmd.

Type the following command to create a new local account:

net user NewAdmin /add

Now, to give the new user administrator rights, type:

net localgroup administrators NewAdmin /add

Restart the computer, and you should now be able to sign in to this new local admin account.

Step 4: Reset the Password for the Administrator Account (if needed)

If you can access Safe Mode or Command Prompt but have forgotten the password to the local administrator account, you can reset it.

4.1. Reset Administrator Password via Command Prompt (in Safe Mode):

Restart the computer and enter Safe Mode by pressing F8 or Shift + Restart.

Once in Safe Mode, open Command Prompt and type:
net user administrator *

Press Enter, and you'll be prompted to enter a new password.

Step 5: Try System Restore

If the local administrator account used to show up but is no longer visible after a certain update or change, consider using System Restore to revert the system back to a point where the issue wasn't occurring:

Press Win + R, type rstrui, and hit Enter.

Follow the instructions to restore your system to a previous working state.

I hope the above information is helpful to you.

Best regards

Runjie Zhai