I've had the error of no administrator error when attempting to update OS 12. I found a work around using terminal but my system still shows I'm not the Administrator when attempting other activities. Will reinstalling the OS through recovery solve this issue? And will reinstalling wipe my data completely?
Timothy Barnett2 wrote:
I've had the error of no administrator error when attempting to update OS 12. I found a work around using terminal but my system still shows I'm not the Administrator when attempting other activities. Will reinstalling the OS through recovery solve this issue? And will reinstalling wipe my data completely?
Not advised to try and change the username because it can lead to some major headaches and loss of admin privileges.
See if there is anything new here, that may help....
Allow a new user to be setup with administrative privileges.
—Reboot macOS into "Single-User mode" by holding down Command-S
— Remove the file controlling whether the setup process is run by typing:
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
—Reboot by typing:
reboot
— When the Setup Assistant appears, create a new account called admin (or any name other than the actual account name that you are trying to get back.)
Once this is done the previous account (still Standard) and a new admin account.
>System Preferences > Users & Groups
From your newly created account— then elevate the standard account back to admin by ticking 'Allow user to administer this computer'.
Alternatively you could leave the account as standard and just use the admin's credentials when prompted for authentication.
If you need more information you can reference more:
Lost Administrator Access admin changed to standard how to set an a… - Apple Community
Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder ...
Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder - Apple Support
---------------------------
You can always Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)
or on line Apple Support
Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone
See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.
Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support
Timothy Barnett2 wrote:
I've had the error of no administrator error when attempting to update OS 12. I found a work around using terminal but my system still shows I'm not the Administrator when attempting other activities. Will reinstalling the OS through recovery solve this issue? And will reinstalling wipe my data completely?
Not advised to try and change the username because it can lead to some major headaches and loss of admin privileges.
See if there is anything new here, that may help....
Allow a new user to be setup with administrative privileges.
—Reboot macOS into "Single-User mode" by holding down Command-S
— Remove the file controlling whether the setup process is run by typing:
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
—Reboot by typing:
reboot
— When the Setup Assistant appears, create a new account called admin (or any name other than the actual account name that you are trying to get back.)
Once this is done the previous account (still Standard) and a new admin account.
>System Preferences > Users & Groups
From your newly created account— then elevate the standard account back to admin by ticking 'Allow user to administer this computer'.
Alternatively you could leave the account as standard and just use the admin's credentials when prompted for authentication.
If you need more information you can reference more:
Lost Administrator Access admin changed to standard how to set an a… - Apple Community
Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder ...
Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder - Apple Support
---------------------------
You can always Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)
or on line Apple Support
Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone
See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.
Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support
I will work through the steps you suggested tonight back at my home office. My issues came up after moving to Monterey. On the first or second update I got an error something like "you must be owner/administrator" to update (can't remember the exact phrasing). My MBP has never been used bay anyone else so I was very confused. Contacted Apple and their suggestion was wipe it all & reinstall. I was trying to avoid this so someone on here recommended to update through Terminal. Which worked, but now I'm finding other concerns when trying to do maintenance on my machine. Thanks for your suggestions! I'll give it a shot.
Reinstall OS to solve no "administrator" issue