Fixing ‘Your Account Has Been Disabled’ Errors in Windows 10

So, you switch on your computer and what do you see? The sign-in screen pops up with the dreaded message: ‘Your account has been disabled. Please see your system administrator.’ Now, that’s not how you wanted to start your day. You’ve got a lot to do, and now you can’t even log into your computer. But don’t panic just yet. This error might seem serious, but trust me, it’s actually pretty easy to fix.

This error can happen when the administrator account on your computer gets disabled, or when your profile gets messed up. The second one is quite common in Windows 10, and we get a lot of people asking for help with it here at Technjunkie. The good news is, fixing it isn’t that hard. Really.

How to Fix ‘Your Account Has Been Disabled’ Errors in Windows 10

If you can log into your computer using a different account, give the first solution a try. If not, try the second one.

1. First, type ‘lusrmgr.msc’ into the Search Windows (Cortana) box.
2. Next, click on Users in the left panel to see all the users on the computer.
3. Look for the account you usually use, and check if there is a small circle with a downward arrow. If you see this, it means the account is disabled.
4. Double-click on the account and uncheck the box next to ‘Account is disabled’.
5. Log out of your computer or restart it, and then log back in using your account.

If you don’t have another login option, you can try the following:

1. Restart your computer using the Windows installation media.
2. When prompted, choose ‘Repair my computer’ instead of ‘Install’.
3. Select ‘Troubleshoot’, then ‘Advanced’, and finally ‘Startup Settings’.
4. Press F5 to enable ‘Safe Mode with Networking’.
5. Once your computer loads into the desktop, follow steps 1-5 above to check if the account is still disabled.

If my account hasn’t been disabled, it’s probably just a case of file corruption that’s causing Windows to think it is. But don’t worry, I can fix that for you in the registry. Just remember, tinkering with the registry can have serious consequences, so be careful and follow my instructions. If you’re not sure what you’re doing, I’ve got a little trick to help you out. Right click on the registry setting you’re about to change, select Export, and save it somewhere safe. That way, if anything goes wrong, you can import the working registry key to restore things back to normal.

1. To begin, type ‘regedit’ into the Search Windows (Cortana) box.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList in the registry.
3. Now, check each S-1-5 folder until you find one that has your account name. It should have a number string after S-1-5.
4. In the right pane, double click on ‘RefCount’ and change the value to 0.
5. Next, double click on ‘State’ in the right pane and change the value to 9.
6. Once you’re done, reboot your computer and test it out again.

Following these steps should solve any login issues you’re facing, including those pesky ‘your account has been disabled’ errors. But if this doesn’t do the trick, unfortunately, your only option is to create a new user account and transfer your files from the old one. It may be a bit of a hassle, but it’s the only way forward from here.