Built-in Administrator account is missing from my Windows 11 Pro system

Jim Watson 45 Reputation points
2025-07-18T22:16:07.5966667+00:00

The built-in Administrator account is missing from my system.

Microsoft Windows Version 10.0.26100.4652 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Windows\System32>net user
User accounts for JIM-DESKTOP
DefaultAccount Guest Jim
WDAGUtilityAccount WsiAccount
The command completed successfully.

C:\Windows\System32>net user administrator /active:yes
The user name could not be found.
More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 2221.

C:\Windows\System32>

How do I get it back?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Accounts, profiles, and login
0 comments

6 answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Ramesh 181.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-07-20T10:55:05.9466667+00:00

    Ok. Let me know how it goes.

    Additional note:

    This is what's shown if I double-click "Administrator" in the lusrmgr.msc applet.

    User's image

    User's image

    Was this answer helpful?

  2. Ramesh 181.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-07-20T08:48:55.1566667+00:00

    Glad that helped.

    You can check the status of the account by running the following from Command Prompt after booting into Windows:

    net user administrator

wmic useraccount get name, sid

    Also, follow up with a full system scan using ESET Online Scanner or Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  3. Ramesh 181.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-07-20T06:02:24.3066667+00:00

    You can try this.

    Create a System Restore Point.

    Download add_admin.reg and save it to the C:\ root.

    Boot into WinRE and run:

    reg load HKLM\SAM2 H:\Windows\System32\Config\SAM

    regedit.exe

    Import add_admin REG file using the File → Import option.

    Close Regedit.

    Run:

    reg query HKLM\SAM2\SAM\Domains\Account\Users\000001F4 >H:\sam_dump.txt

reg unload HKLM\SAM2

    Post the output.

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
  4. Ramesh 181.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-07-20T04:02:02.7533333+00:00

    Boot into WinRE Command Prompt and run this command:

    bcdedit | find "osdevice"

    Note the OS partition's drive-letter. Suppose it's D:\

    Run:

    copy D:\Windows\System32\Config\SAM D:\SAM.bak

reg load HKLM\SAM2 D:\Windows\System32\Config\SAM

reg query HKLM\SAM2\SAM\Domains\Account\Users\Names

reg query HKLM\SAM2\SAM\Domains\Account\Users

reg unload HKLM\SAM2

    Post the output.

    Was this answer helpful?

  5. Ramesh 181.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-07-20T03:17:45.0966667+00:00

    Please run the following command and post the output.

    wmic useraccount get name, sid

    Was this answer helpful?

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.