How To Fix App Can’t Be Opened Using The Built-in Administrator Account In Windows 10 Error
We’ve honestly lost count of how many odd and obscure errors Windows 10 can throw at a user but here’s another one; the App can’t be opened using the Built-in Administrator account in Windows 10 error. This error essentially prevents a user from running an app with administrative rights and it may block the administrator account as well. The fix is fairly simple; Windows 10 Home users have to tweak something in the Windows registry while Windows 10 Pro users have to make a change to the local policy.
Windows 10 Pro – Local Policy Change
Open the run dialog box with the Win+R keyboard shortcut and paste the following;
secpol.msc
This will open the Local Security Policy editor. Go to Local Policies>Security Options. Here, in the alphabetically sorted list, look for the policy “User Account Control Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account”, and enable it. Restart your system and the error should be resolved.
Windows 10 Home – Windows Registry Change
If you’re getting the “App Can’t Be Opened Using The Built-in Administrator Account In Windows 10” error on Windows 10 Home, you need to make an edit to the Windows registry. To do this, you need administrative rights. Open the run dialog with the Win+R keyboard shortcut. Enter the following and tap enter.
regedit
Accept the on-screen prompt. Navigate to the following location;
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Right-click inside the System key and select New>DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it;
FilterAdministratorToken
Set its value to 1. If the key already exists, double click to edit it, and change its value to 1.
Next, navigate to the following location;
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\UIPI
Here, you will find a key named Default. Double-click to edit it and set its value to the following;
0x00000001(1)
Restart your system and you should be good to go.
About This Error
This error isn’t so much a bug as it is a feature that’s been enabled when it shouldn’t. If your system is on a domain, and it’s connected to a domain account you can expect the error. Some system administrators might have enabled it so that you can’t run certain apps with admin rights, or with the current account privileges that you have. It may be annoying or unnecessary from your perspective but it’s likely you will need your system admin to make the change to the local policy for you.
For home users, this feature is a proper bug unless it was enabled. Not many end users know about it, let alone how to enable it so this is probably something Windows 10 did during an upgrade or when you installed something, or changed a system setting.
