I am not an admin on my own account and I am the only one in my microsoft family, how do i fix this?

Question

I am not an admin on my own account and I am the only one in my microsoft family, how do i fix this?

Gwen Coleman 0

I have random blocks on my computer, but I have my own adult microsoft account. I still randomly get these blocks saying I need admin approval, but I am the only person connected to this microsoft account. Please help.

EmilyS726 266.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-13T23:06:53.9166667+00:00

There are two different types of “admin” concepts here, and I think it is important to first determine which one is blocking you.

I think you may be referring to the Family Organizer. That is mainly related to parental controls, such as screen time limits, age restrictions for games or movies, website restrictions, and whether certain apps can be used or installed.

Separately, each Windows device also has Standard user accounts and Administrator accounts. A Standard user may be restricted from installing or uninstalling apps or making certain system-level changes, while an Administrator account has those permissions. This has nothing to do with age. Adult users can be set as standard users only.

So the key question is: what exactly were you doing when Windows said administrator permission was required?

If possible, please share a screenshot of the administrator prompt. That should help determine which type of administrator permission it is asking for.

1 answer

Your answer

EmilyS726 266.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-13T23:06:53.9166667+00:00

There are two different types of “admin” concepts here, and I think it is important to first determine which one is blocking you.

I think you may be referring to the Family Organizer. That is mainly related to parental controls, such as screen time limits, age restrictions for games or movies, website restrictions, and whether certain apps can be used or installed.

Separately, each Windows device also has Standard user accounts and Administrator accounts. A Standard user may be restricted from installing or uninstalling apps or making certain system-level changes, while an Administrator account has those permissions. This has nothing to do with age. Adult users can be set as standard users only.

So the key question is: what exactly were you doing when Windows said administrator permission was required?

If possible, please share a screenshot of the administrator prompt. That should help determine which type of administrator permission it is asking for.

Answer 1

If the issue is Family Safety restrictions being enforced on an adult account, check whether the account is still in a Microsoft Family group and then refresh Family Safety on the device.

Sign in to account.microsoft.com/family.
- If no family members appear, the account is not currently part of a family group.
- If a family is listed, the account may have been added previously.
If Family Safety restrictions are still being enforced on the PC, run a Family Safety refresh on that device:
- Press Windows + R.
- Type cmd and select OK.
- Run:
```
     schtasks /run /tn "Microsoft\Windows\Shell\FamilySafetyRefreshTask"
```
- Restart the computer.
Repeat the refresh on each affected device, because the reset must be run on every impacted PC.
If Microsoft thinks the account is a child account because of the birth date on the account, correct the birth date by following the steps under “I’m an adult, but Microsoft thinks I’m a child”.
If the account is in a family group and privacy is preferred, leave or remove the account from the family group.

This addresses Family Safety blocks. Windows administrator rights on the PC are separate from Microsoft Family roles, so being the only person in the Microsoft family does not by itself confirm the Windows account is an administrator.

References: