When we buy a new preassembled PC, it can happen to find an administrator user already configured inside it, most likely used to be able to configure the operating system and to be able to verify that everything works correctly before the sale. Even with such concern we will not have to run into the error of immediately starting to use the PC or our new Mac, since we do not know what the technician or the seller may have configured (it could also have installed an unwanted program or set the graphic effects to the minimum). In order to regain full control of our computer, in this guide we will show you how to change administrator on PC and Mac, so you can start over with an administrator user account created by us, with all the parameters reset to default and with a new password. access (useful to protect our computer from unauthorized use). READ ALSO: How to get administrator privileges on Windows 10
How to change administrator on Windows PC
To quickly change administrator on a PC with Windows operating system, we will first have to create a new administrator profile, then delete the old one from the list of users available for the system. Below we will show you the procedure to be performed on Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7, i.e. the operating systems still supported by Microsoft.Windows 10
To change administrator on a PC with Windows 10, we open the Start menu in the lower left, we search and open the Settings app, go to the Account menu and finally in the Family and other users section .
We press the button Add another user to this PC ; a window will appear in which we can enter our credentials to access the Microsoft account (if we want to have an account synchronized online); if we want to create a local account, click on I do not have the access information of this person, select the item Add a user without a Microsoft account then choose the name to be given to the new user, together with a new password (to be written twice for security) and recovery security questions and answers, so click the Next button to confirm.
After creating the new account, press on its profile icon, then choose the Change account type item and choose Administrator from the Account type drop-down menu. After this change, we exit the current account from the Start menu -> Close or disconnect -> Exit and log in with the new administrator. To delete the old administrator account, go back to the Settings section -> Accounts -> Family and other users, click on the name of the old account to be deleted, press Remove and choose to also delete all the data generated by the account, so as to remove every track.
Windows 8.1
If we have a PC with Windows 8.1 installed, we can change administrator on PC, click on the bottom left of the Start screen, search for the PC Settings app and finally go to Accounts -> Other accounts .
Click on the Add an account button and enter the login credentials for our Microsoft account; if we want to create a local account, we press on Login without a Microsoft account, then on the Local account button, so we can configure the name and password for the new administrator account. At the end of the configuration, click Next to add the new account to the PC, select, press the Edit button and set Administrator from the Account type drop-down menu .
Now all we have to do is restart the computer and log in with the new administrator account; to delete the old account, go back to the Accounts -> Other accounts screen of the PC Settings app, select the name of the old account and use the Delete key to delete it from the computer.
Windows 7
If we own a computer with Windows 7, we can change administrator on PC by opening the Start menu in the lower left corner and clicking on the Control Panel item. Once we reach the screen with all the system options, make sure to view the items by category by setting the item of the same name in the upper right (on the View by menu), then press on the Add or remove user account item, present under the Account section user and family protection .
To create the new administrator account, click below on Create new account, choose a name for the profile and make sure to set the check mark on Administrator ; to confirm press on Create account . If we also want to add a password to the new account, click on its icon and use the Create password item.
Now we restart the PC and log in with the new administrator account; to delete the old account, simply go back to the Add or remove user account screen, select the account to be deleted and use the Delete account item.
How to change administrator on Mac
We use an iMac or MacBook as a productivity computer or as a work computer ">In the window that appears, click on the padlock at the bottom left, enter the system password and press the + (plus) icon at the bottom of the left column. In the new screen we set Administrator in the drop-down menu of New account, then we fill in all the required fields (username, password etc) and press on Create user . In order to immediately use the new administrator account created on the Mac, we press on the bitten apple symbol in the upper left, press on Log out, select the new account and log in with the password chosen during the creation phase.
Once active on the new account, we can remove the old one by going back to the Users and groups menu, unlocking the advanced options with the padlock at the bottom left, selecting the account to be deleted in the left column and finally pressing the icon - (minus ) and entering the old account password (it may also be empty).
Conclusions
Creating a new administrator on the PC and Mac could be very useful in all cases in which we are not sure that we were the only users of the PC, as well as being a good method to quickly restore the desktop and to delete the customizations applied to the system.If we can no longer access our PC as an administrator, we advise you to read our guides on how to reset the Windows 10 password to access the PC and how to reset or bypass the password to access on computers and smartphones, so that we can find a method functioning to recover access to our computer.
As seen, it is also possible to create a new Windows administrator before starting the PC .
If, on the other hand, we want to create a secure limited account for guests and for inexperienced people, we recommend that you read our article on How to make friends and guests use the PC separately and safely .
