As most of you know, Windows, by default, has an administrator account with the same name, “Administrator”. This admin account is superior to all other user accounts in your Windows system and using it, and you can do almost anything without any restrictions. Considering how likely this account is, the Administrator account is one of the most targeted by hackers using malware, trojans, and viruses.
So one of the best Windows security practices is to rename the Administrator account to something else to be much harder for an attacker to access. Furthermore, if you are in a server environment, the change is a must.
In case you are wondering how to do that, here is how you can rename a Windows administrator account.
Using Windows Command Prompt
To rename the admin account using the command prompt, press the “Win + X” key and select the option “Command Prompt (Admin)”.
If you are using Windows 7 or Vista, search for Command Prompt in the Start menu, right-click on it, and select the option “Run as administrator“.
Once the Advanced command prompt has been opened, copy and paste the below commands into the command prompt to rename the Administrator account. Don’t forget to replace “ NewUserName ” with your Custom Username.
wmic useraccount where name = ‘Administrator’ call rename name = ‘newUserName’
Once the command has been executed, Windows will display a confirmation message similar to the one shown above.
You have successfully changed the default admin account username.
Use Windows Group Policy Editor
If you are in a server environment, then using the Group Policy Editor is a good way to manage things.
To get started, press “Win + R”, type gpedit.msc, and press the Enter button to open the Group Policy Editor.
Now, navigate to the following section “Computer Configurations -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options“, find the line “Accounts: Rename administrator account“, and double click on it to open the settings. Corresponding policy.
Once the windows policy settings have been opened, enter the new admin account username and click the “ Ok ” button to save the changes.
That’s all there is to do. Either restart or log out of the current session to reflect the changes. Alternatively, you can use the command below at an elevated command prompt to update the Group Policy setting.
gpupdate / force
Using Computer Management
Renaming the Administrator account using the Computer Management utility is by far the easiest. To do that, open Control Panel> Administrative Tools and double-click on ” Computer Management ” to open the corresponding utility.
If you are using Windows 8, press ” Win + X ” and select the option ” Computer Management “.
Now, navigate to “ System Tools -> Local Users and Groups -> Users ”. Here you can find administrator user accounts with the name “ Administrator ” in the right pane.
Just right-click on account of the administrator user “Administrator” and choose the rename option “Rename”, then rename it to the name of your choice.
When the renaming is done, the window should look like this.
That’s all there is to do, and it’s that simple to rename the Administrator account in Windows.
I hope that helps and comment on sharing your thoughts and experiences about using the above methods to change the default Windows admin account name.
