Turn User Account Control on or off

Windows 7 

User Account Control (UAC) can help prevent unauthorized changes to your computer. UAC notifies you when changes are going to be made to your computer that require administrator-level permission. These types of changes can affect the security of your computer or can affect settings for other people that use the computer. We recommend that you leave UAC on to help make your computer secure.

Watch this video to learn how to turn UAC on or off (1:11)


To turn UAC on or off

  1. Open User Account Control Settings by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type uac, and then click Change User Account Control settings.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • To turn off UAC, move the slider to the Never notify position, and then click OK. Administrator permission required If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. You will need to restart your computer for UAC to be turned off.

    • To turn on UAC, move the slider to choose when you want to be notified, and then click OK. Administrator permission required If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

    For more information about your notification options, see What are User Account Control settings?