I don't have an administrator account on my Mac, how do I fix that?

Claire Tesluk

Last Update 3 jaar geleden

If you are not able to install software or perform other tasks on your Mac because your account is a Standard Account and there is no other Administrator Account on the Mac, then you must follow this process in order to add one:


1. Restart your Mac while holding down Command-S to boot in Single-User Mode.

2. Once you see white text on a black screen, you know you are in Single-User Mode. If you are taken to the log in screen, enter the password for your account and you will be taken back to the Command Line Interface (white text on black screen).

3. Type in the following command to check the filesystem first (macOS Mojave and under):

/sbin/fsck -fy

4. Type in the following command to mount the filesystem (macOS Mojave and under):

/sbin/mount -uw /

*make sure there is a space between -uw and the forward slash.


For macOS Catalina, substitute this with the following command:

/sbin/mount -uw /System/Volumes/Data

5. Type in the following command to re-run Setup Assistant:

rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone

6. Type in 'reboot' and press Enter to reboot. You may have to log in again, but afterwards you should then be taken through the Setup Assistant.

7. Follow the prompts as you would when you first set up your Mac. When you get to the account page, enter in the name, user name, password, etc so that it's easy to remember because this account will be deleted in the last step.

8. You will now be logged in as the new user which will be set as admin by default. Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups.

9. Click on the padlock to make changes, and enter in the new admin account's password.

10. Click on the Standard User account to select it, then click the checkbox next to Allow user to administer this computer.

11. Log out of the account by going to the Apple Menu > Log Out YourUsername.

12. Log in to your original account, which should now be an Administrator Account. You may want to test it out by attempting to install software or try to make changes to an account under System Preferences > Users and Groups.

13. Once you have verified that it works, you can now select the temporary admin account under System Preferences > Users and Groups and click on the minus (-) button to remove the account.

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