How to Disable and Turn Off UAC in Windows 7
The user interface of User Account Control (UAC) settings in Windows 7 has changed to reflect the move to make UAC less annoying, more user control and more user friendlier approach. In Windows 7, the UAC has a slider bar which allows users to configure and select which level of notification (and hence protection against unauthorized and malicious access) they want. With the fine-tuning of UAC, the wording ‘disable’ or ‘turn off’ is no longer available. So how can you disable UAC? Or at least, how can you turn off the notification prompt or pop-up so that they appear less regularly?
In fact, the steps to disable UAC is Windows 7 is similar to steps to disable UAC in Windows Vista, only with slight user interface change, and there is plenty of methods to turn off UAC too.
Method 1: Disable or Turn Off UAC (User Account Control) in Control Panel
- To user Control Panel to disable UAC in Windows 7, there are several methods to access the User Account Control settings page:
- Go to Start Menu -> Control Panel -> User Accounts and Family Safety -> User Account.
- Go to Start Menu -> Control Panel -> System and Security -> Action Center.
- Click or right click on Flag icon in notification area (system tray), and then Open Action Center.
- Type “MsConfig” in Start Search to start System Configuration, then go to Tools tab, select Change UAC Settings, then click on Launch button.
- Click on User Account Control settings link.
- Slide the slider bar to the lowest value (towards Never Notify), with description showing Never notify me.
- Click OK to make the change effective.
- Restart the computer to turn off User Access Control.
Method 2: Disable UAC with Registry Editor (RegEdit)
- Run Registry Editor (RegEdit).
- Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
- Locate the following REG_DWORD value:
EnableLUA
- Set the value of EnableLUA to 0.
- Optional step to suppress UAC consent prompt dialog, locate the following REG_DWORD value:
ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin
- Set the value of ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin to 0 (optional).
- Exit from Registry Editor and restart the computer to turn off UAC.
Method 3: Turn Off UAC Using Group Policy
For Windows 7 Ultimate, Business or Enterprise edition which has Local Group Policy, or computer joined to domain and has Active Directory-based GPO, the group policy can be used to disable UAC for local computer or many computer across large networks at once.
- Enter GPedit.msc in Start Search to run Local Group Policy editor. (Or gpmc.msc to run Group Policy Management Console for AD-based domain GPO editor).
- Navigate to the following tree branch:
Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options
In GPMC, browse to the required GPO which is linked to the domain or OU where the policy wants to apply.
- Locate the following policy in the right pane:
User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode
Set its value to Elevate without prompt.
- Locate the following policy in the right pane:
User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation
Set its value to Disabled.
- Locate the following policy in the right pane:
User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode
Set its value to Disabled.
- Locate the following policy in the right pane:
User Account Control: Only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations
Set its value to Disabled.
Restart the computer when done.
Method 4: Using Command Prompt to Disable User Account Control
The command line option can also be used in batch script command file, i.e. .bat and .cmd files, providing greater convenient to advanced technical user. In actual, the commands,, which are also used to disable or enable UAC in Vista, are just doing the same thing as directly modifying the registry.
- Open an elevated command prompt as administrator.
- To disable the UAC, run the following commands:
%windir%\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
and optionally, the following comand to suppress all elevation consent request and notification:
%windir%\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Tip: To re-enable UAC, the command is:
%windir%\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
and to turn on prompt for consent UI:
%windir%\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v ConsentPromptBehaviorAdmin /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f
Disable UAC may cause gadget not working in Windows 7. User who facing the issue can use another workaround to suppress User Account Control.
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Entries (RSS)
August 24th, 2010 18:30
Thanks for the above solution but it doesn’t work any alternative solution….Please Suggest
August 6th, 2010 21:24
Is it just me or is this not fixing the same issue I am having. I thought it was the same thing UAC locking my C drive from me changing files, but when I get into the method 1 and change the slide bar, (worst idea MS has to date, o wait that was Vista, but 7 is not too far behind on the list now),to the 2nd to last setting, it still states “You must be logged in as administrator on this computer to select this settings” Strange thing is I am the only user account, none shows up in the list not even my own user, both Admin and guest are disabled. I am marked as Administrator for the PC by going into the advanced properties view (where admin and guest where disabled to start with and my username is the only 1 marked as active and admin status), plus it constantly asks for my Network Admin account passwords. I have even unlocked the Admninistrator account and still unable to do anything on my system (tried from both PC and Network Admins). I set this PC up from out the box and now makes me hate Windows 7 even more. My other Laptops with Windows 7 do not have this problem of locking the entire C drive, this is something new that is with this updated version (I see the point of it protecting system files, but there is nothing even on the PC yet because it won’t let me install and change files). These are the reasons I hate Microsoft and would rather Pirate their software than ever hand MS 1 dollar.
My issue is I want to add a single line of code to C:Windows\system32\Drivers\Etc\Host
This is a file for Client access (yes I am a Sony and IBM supporter. Good thing MS uses IBMs to run their network or then you would see how bad their software really is). I just need to enter my servers IP and host name. When I try to save it, it won’t let me save it. Tells me to save it in my documents and then says I don’t have permission to even save at this location. I have gave everyone full access to the PC and still I am unable to change any files. The owner of the entire C and Windows folders has been changed to me instead of TrustedInstaller (default). I want to delete this user TrustedInstaller from my PC entirely, because MS has no rights to my PC as I own it, not them and their affiliates to install things I don’t want.
On top of all that when I log in as the PC Admin I get .net errors left and right, but even on my other PCs (XP pro, Windows7 Pro) .net always gives me errors.
Sorry the Rant is in there too, but I am fed up with MS and the stupid asinine things they do. I think I will be calling them in a min just to bitch for hours while I still sit here and read forum posts and try to solve the issue because the people you talk to have no clue how to remove this Lock.
I think I am better to just switch to Apples OS X, or going to Ubuntu, or Red hat for that matter, at least I can do my every day functions without spending days trying to remove this lock just to save a file.
August 6th, 2010 00:11
VERY HELPFUL!!! Thanks, Robert
June 14th, 2010 09:08
nice post very usefull, thanks man!
June 5th, 2010 14:01
Thanks works like a charm
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Thank you for this post very useful.
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