Access denied on Windows 10/11 administrator account
- Several users reported that the Access denied message appears while using an administrator account.
- To fix this error, check the antivirus software you are using on your Windows 10 PC.
- You should try running the application as administrator in order to access certain directories.
- Also, make sure your account is added to the Administrators group and read on for more solutions.

XINSTALL BY CLICKING THE DOWNLOAD FILE
To fix various PC problems, we recommend Restoro PC Repair Tool:This software will repair common computer errors, protect you from file loss, malware, hardware failure and optimize your PC for maximum performance. Fix PC issues and remove viruses now in 3 easy steps:
- Restoro has been downloaded by 0 readers this month.
Access denied message can prevent you from removing or accessing certain directories on your PC, but in most cases, you can avoid this message simply by switching to the administrator account.
However, several users reported that Access Denied message appears even while using an administrator account, and in this article we’ll explore several ways to fix this issue.
Access denied message can sometimes appear even while using an administrator account. Speaking of this issue, here are some similar problems that users reported:
- Windows folder Access Denied administrator – Sometimes you might get this message while trying to access the Windows folder. This usually occurs due to your antivirus, so you might have to disable it.
- Access Denied Windows 10 Command Prompt – If this error appears in Command Prompt, be sure to start it as administrator and check if that solves your problem.
- Unable to set new owner access is denied – Sometimes you might not be able to change the owner of a certain directory. This can occur due to User Account Control feature, so you might want to disable it.
- Administrator Access Denied take ownership, delete folder, file – These are some similar errors that users reported, but you should be able to fix them using one of our solutions.
How can I fix the access denied administrator error?
1. Check your antivirus
Keeping your files safe from online threats is important, but sometimes your antivirus can interfere with your system and prevent you from accessing certain files or directories.
Sometimes, you might get access denied to a folder even as an administrator. Many antivirus tools will lock system files in order to prevent malware from accessing and modifying them.
However, sometimes the antivirus might block all users, even administrators, from accessing these folders.
This can be a big problem, and in order to fix it, you need to disable folder protection features in your antivirus. In addition to disabling this feature, you can also try disabling your antivirus altogether.
In the worst-case scenario, you might even have to remove your antivirus. We have to mention that your PC will still be protected by Windows Defender, so there’s no need to worry about your online safety even if you uninstall your antivirus.
After you remove your antivirus, check if the problem is still there. If not, you should consider switching to a different antivirus solution.
There are a lot of virus removal tools on the market. We recommend picking one with a large threat database because these are the antivirus software with the highest detection rate.
2. Disable User Account Control


Windows 10 comes with a useful security feature called User Account Control, and this feature is designed to notify you whenever you or an application tries to perform an activity that requires administrative privileges.
This is a great feature in theory, but in practice, it can lead to an Access denied message, even if you’re using an administrative account. However, you can fix that by disabling the User Account Control feature.
Once you disable User Account Control, the issue should be resolved and everything will start working again.
3. Try running the application as an administrator

After doing that, the application should start. If this method works, you might want to change the application settings to always run it with administrative privileges. To do that, follow these steps:


If the Access Denied message appears while trying to run a certain application, you might be able to fix the issue simply by trying to run the problematic application using the admin permissions on Windows 10.
After doing that the application will always start with administrative privileges. Keep in mind that this isn’t the most reliable solution, but it might work for some users.
4. Run Windows Explorer as an administrator



Windows Explorer will now start with administrative privileges, and you should be able to access the desired location on your PC.
If you’re getting an Access denied message on the folder as administrator, you should try running Windows Explorer as an administrator.
Certain folders on your PC might not be accessible without administrative privileges, and in order to fix that, you need to start Windows Explorer as an administrator.
5. Change the ownership of the directory






In order to fix administrator privileges on Windows 10 and Access Denied error message, you might have to change the ownership of the directory that you’re trying to access.
After making these changes, you should be able to access the problematic directory without any major issues.
6. Make sure that your account is added to the Administrators group


Once you save changes, restart your PC and check if the problem is still there.
If administrator privileges are not working on Windows 10, the issue might be because your account isn’t added to the Administrators group on Windows.
However, you can add your account manually to the Administrators group by following the above steps.
If this method seems a bit long, you can always add a user to the Administrators group simply by using Command Prompt. To do that, follow these steps:


After running this command, you’ll add your account to the Administrators group and the issue should be completely resolved.
7. Perform an in-place upgrade

Once the upgrade process is finished, check if the issue is still there. If the problem persists even after the in-place upgrade, you might have to reset Windows 10 to the default and check if that solves your problem.
If you’re having problems with admin permissions on Windows 10, you might be able to solve the problem simply by performing an in-place upgrade.
In case you don’t know, an in-place upgrade will reinstall Windows 10, but it will keep all your personal files and applications.
Access Denied messages can cause many problems, but we hope that you managed to fix this problem on your administrator account by using one of our solutions.
ncG1vNJzZmivmaOxsMPSq5ypp6Kpe6S7zGiYnaWZo7a0wNGaq6iqXZawpLHSrGSdnZ6esqV51qKlnaenqHpyfI4%3D