give account admin privileges

Hi Vivian,

Thank you for staying with me. This is OOBE but I did know I had a Azure account. The background is this. I recently migrated to using Outlook 365 for Business. Microsoft support helped migrate my pst file to the cloud using Exchange for Outlook 365 and used my work email. They must have set up my azure account in the process. So now I have two 365 accounts, one is Microsoft 365 Personal, and the other is Microsoft 365 Business. I dont need to use the Personal account any more and will cancel that.

With help from Perplexity I logged into portal.azure.com and used my work email and password. Sure enough the account is there. I am the admin setting up multiple OOBEs. How do I change it in the portal so I get admin rights during the oobe. I dont want to go through the manual process of starting in safe mode etc each time as I will be setting up other machines too.

And once I do that when I go to this machine which is configured by my user name can I change it to get admin privileges. For other machines, when I OOBE what should I do as the admin account is typically disabled by the manufacturer (HP in this case).

Thanks

Arun

I see your point, you chose a work (Azure AD) account during OOBE. Azure AD–joined machines are typically provisioned so the first Azure AD user is a standard user unless an Azure AD role or an Intune/Group Policy explicitly grants local administrator rights. That's why you didn;t see an option to "make myself admin" during setup.

Enabling the built‑in local Administrator without setting its password leaves it unusable. The command you ran turned the account on but couldn't set a password, so Wins rejected your sign‑in. To fix this locally, you must enable the account and set a password in the same elevated command prompt: run net user administrator /active:yes then net user administrator YourStrongPasswordHere Restart and sign in to the local Administrator account (use Administrator or .\Administrator at the sign‑in prompt). From that signed‑in Administrator session you can add your work account to the local Administrators group: open Computer Management > Local Users and Groups > Groups > Administrators and add your Azure AD account as AzureAD\yourUPN or add the account via Settings > Accounts > Other users and change the account type to Administrator.

If that sequence fails because commands are blocked or the Administrator remains inaccessible, the machine is likely managed by a device management policy (Intune or domain GPO) that prevents local elevation. In that case you can't make your Azure AD account local admin from the device; the change must be made from Azure AD portal or Intune by a tenant/global admin granting your account the "Local Administrator" role on that device, or by an on‑premises domain admin if it’s Hybrid Joined.

If you can't reach a tenant admin and must regain local control immediately, you can use recovery command prompt or Windows install media to enable the built‑in Administrator and set its password (use the same net user commands from WinRE). If you do that, expect device management to reapply policies after it reconnects to Azure/Intune; policies can remove the local admin right again.

I hope you dont mind reading such a comprehensive explanation.

VP

I reinstalled windows 11 pro and renamed the device so now I know which is the correct device.

I went through setting up the computer very carefully and there was no place to make myself and admin. Note, I used my work account with Microsoft. I have the same problem; I am logged in but not an admin. I cannot make myself admin as I do not have the privilege.I then followed Vivian's suggestions. Went into safemode, typed "net user administrator /active:yes and it accepted it i.e. no error. Then I restarted computer. I now have a choice of original account name or another user. I chose "other user" and typed administrator in the name without a password. It did not work. Then I tried my email in the other user drop down list and it asks me again about work or personal. So, the active:yes does not allow me to set a password for administrator.

Question 1) when I set up the pc with for the first time from scratch why dont I have an option to give myself admin privileges. Note I chose set up a work account not personal 2) the above step did not work and in settings, accounts&email I have no way to enter administrator or change my personal login name to have admin privileges.

Hi Arun Chaddha,

Regarding your issue, the most recent device is the one showing current activity inside the Microsoft Account portal. Inspect its “last seen” timestamp. The entries with stale or outdated timestamps are the older hardware clones. Remove only the ones that show no recent contact. Ignore the position in the list; the ordering is not chronological.

Your Windows session lacks elevation because you logged in with an Azure-backed work or school identity that was never added to the local Administrators group during OOBE. The machine is treating your profile as a standard connected account.

Open the local user management console (lusrmgr.msc) or the Local Users and Groups snap-in through Computer Management. Locate your local profile under Users and add it to the Administrators group.

If the system blocks that because no elevated account exists, boot into advanced startup, enter the recovery command prompt, enable the built-in Administrator with “net user administrator /active:yes”, restart, sign in with that account, and then grant your primary account administrative rights. Disable the built-in Administrator afterward with the same command toggled to “no”.

I hope you are clear with the information. Should you have any more questions, feel free to leave a message. It's really appreciated of you to accept the answer to let others know more about your issue. Thanks!

Vivian

To give yourself admin privileges on your Windows 11 Pro computer, you will need to ensure that you are signed in with an account that has local administrator rights. Here are the steps to check and grant admin privileges:

1. Check Your Account Type: Go to Settings > Accounts > Your info. Here, you can see if your account is listed as an Administrator.
2. Change Account Type: If your account is not an Administrator, you will need to log in with an account that has admin rights. If you do not have access to such an account, you may need to reset your PC or contact your IT administrator if this is a work device.
3. Using Local Users and Groups: If you have access to an admin account, you can manage user accounts by typing lusrmgr.msc in the Run dialog (press Windows + R to open it). In the Local Users and Groups window, you can find your account under the Users folder. Right-click on your account and select Properties, then go to the Member Of tab to add your account to the Administrators group.

Regarding the duplicate machine names in your Microsoft account:

• The unique device IDs can help you identify which machine is which. The latest device is usually the one that is currently active or recently used. You can check the last activity date for each device in your Microsoft account under Manage devices. The top entry may not necessarily be the latest, so checking the last active date is more reliable.
• If you identify the duplicates, you can remove the older entries from your Microsoft account settings.

If you need further assistance, consider reaching out to Microsoft support or your IT department for help with admin privileges and device management.