Making a user account admin on a Mac (System Preferences)

Summary

Give a user administrator privileges on a Mac. This can be done while signed in to any account as long as the user has previously signed in.

Environment

macOS

Directions

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on Users & Groups.
3. Click on the user profile that you would like to make admin.
4. Click on the lock in the bottom-left corner of the window and enter admin credentials to allow changes.
5. Check the box called: Allow user to administer this computer
6. Click the lock again to prevent any further changes.
7. The change should take effect after restarting the computer. You will notice in the Users & Groups menu, the title under their name should change from "Standard" to "Admin."

If your admin credentials do not work in Step 4, make sure the computer has access to the UM network (MWireless, Ethernet on-campus, VPN off-campus). Also check in Izzy to see if the UM Support account is active. Otherwise, look at the list of accounts in Users & Groups to identify which one is already listed as an Admin, and search for those credentials.

External resources

Read our "Making user account administrator on Mac from terminal" article for steps on how to make a user admin using terminal and a remote connection.