[Fix] UAC Yes Button is Missing or Grayed Out

Some users are facing a weird problem wherein the “Yes” button in User Account Control (UAC) dialog is disabled or grayed out. As a result, you’ll be unable to launch any program under elevated privileges (run as administrator).

UAC Yes Button Missing

Cause

This problem can occur if your user account group membership is messed up and your account no longer has admin rights. This situation occurs when you’ve inadvertently set your user account as a standard user or Guest, especially if there is no other administrator account in the system. And, with the built-in “Administrator” account disabled by default, you may be wondering how to fix the UAC or user account privileges problem.

uac dialog yes button grayed out

If you run the net user %username% command, it may show the following output, indicating that you’re not a member of the Administrator’s group.

Local Group Memberships *Guests

(or)

Local Group Memberships *Users

 

RELATED: [Fix] UAC asks for a password even if logged in as an administrator

Resolution

If your user account has turned into a standard or Guest account (by incorrect group membership change), you’ll be unable to run any program elevated. The Yes button in the User Account Control (UAC) dialog will be missing.

To restore administrative rights and privileges for the user account, follow the steps below:

Method 1: Use Safe mode to log in as built-in Administrator

Log in to the built-in Administrator account via Safe Mode and then promote your user account back as administrator. The built-in administrator account has a blank password by default.


tips bulb iconThe built-in “Administrator” account shows up on the login screen while in Safe Mode if no other administrator account user exists on the computer; it doesn’t matter whether the “Administrator” account enabled or not.


  1. Click Start, click on the Power button, press and hold the Shift key down and click Restart. This starts the Windows Recovery Environment.
  2. In Windows RE, click Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings.


    windows RE startup settings
  3. In Startup Settings, press the 4 or F4 button on your keyboard.
    windows re startup settings
  4. Windows 10 will now restart in Safe Mode. In Safe Mode, you’ll see the “Administrator” account in the login screen.
  5. Click “Administrator” and sign in to the account. It has a blank password by default.
    sign-in as built in administrator in safe mode
  6. Press Win + R, type control userpasswords, and click OK. This opens the classic User Accounts Control Panel.
    fix account membership built in administrator in safe mode
  7. In the User Accounts applet, click “Manage another account“.
    sign-in as built in administrator in safe mode - fix admin rights for user account
  8. In the “Manage Accounts” applet, select the account that has lost its admin privileges.
    sign-in as built in administrator in safe mode - fix admin rights for user account
  9. Click “Change the account type”.
    sign-in as built in administrator in safe mode - fix admin rights for user account
  10. Choose the “Administrator” option, and click the “Change Account Type” button.
    sign-in as built in administrator in safe mode - fix admin rights for user account
    You’ve now changed your account type to administrator.
  11. Restart Windows and login to your account. The UAC Yes button should now be restored.
    UAC Yes Button Missing

That’s it. The above steps restore your user account’s administrator privileges.

Alternate method: Using Command-line

You can also accomplish the above task of fixing your account’s group membership using Command Prompt while in the Safe mode.

  • Follow steps 1 to 5 above.
  • Once logged as the built-in “Administrator”, open Command Prompt by running cmd.exe.
  • Use the following command-line syntax to add your account to the “Administrators” group.
    net localgroup administrators {username} /add

    Example:

    net localgroup administrators Ramesh /add

    That’s it! You now promoted your user account to an administrator (from Standard or Guest privileges) account.

  • Log off from the built-in Administrator account.
  • Restart Windows.
  • Log in to your original account now — e.g., Ramesh

Method 2: Using Windows RE

If you’ve previously changed the “Administrator” password but don’t remember it now, then “Method 1” won’t help. In that case, you’ll need to use the Windows 10 or 11 USB setup Disk and Windows Recovery Environment to reset the forgotten “Administrator” account password or fix the group membership of the subject user account — e.g., Ramesh.

Note that accessing the built-in recovery options may not help as you may be prompted for an admin account password anyway. So, boot the system with the Windows USB Setup disk and access recovery options.

uac dialog yes button grayed out

Next, follow the instructions listed in the article Windows 10 Password Reset Methods for Lost Password Scenario.

After fixing the group membership, your account should be able to regain administrator rights, as seen in the control userpasswords2 dialog below.

uac dialog yes button grayed out

If nothing helps, create a new user account while you’re logged in as the built-in administrator. Once you regain the admin privileges for your user account (or create a new user account), you can safely disable the built-in administrator account.


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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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