Solved I need help with Admin and Standard accounts

Hello all,

I had to reinstall Windows today, I had tried Linux for a few days last week and wound up going back to Windows. Everything is ok now except that I use a standard user account for everyday browsing and email. It used to be that if I ran a program or app that needed admin authorization Windows would open a UAC prompt to enter my admin PIN. Now that I have reinstalled Windows and done all the latest updates the UAC prompt asks for the password on my admin account rather than the much simpler PIN. I tried everything I know, searched and Googled for a long time but cannot find how to change that prompt back to the PIN. The UAC prompt does give the option to use the admin password but I would rather have the Admin PIN back as the default authorization if possible. I would appreciate any help on this.

Thanks,

Jimmy
Lenovo Ideapad 1 15IAU7
Edition Windows 11 Home
Version 24H2
Installed on ‎4/‎6/‎2025
OS build 26100.3624
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.66.0

Yeah, this one’s a bit annoying — you’re not alone. After a reinstall, Windows defaults back to asking for the full admin password at UAC when you're signed in as a standard user. Unfortunately, PIN sign-in (and Windows Hello in general) is tied to the user session, so when UAC runs as a different user (like your admin account), it doesn’t trigger the Hello options like PIN or fingerprint — it wants the actual password.


There’s no built-in setting to force PIN at UAC for elevation from a different account — it's a limitation by design for security reasons. The only workaround some folks use is switching to a full-time admin account and dialing UAC down a notch in settings, but that’s obviously not ideal if you prefer staying on a standard account (smart move, btw).


Wish I had a better answer, but for now, it’s either use the password or tweak your setup a bit. Hopefully Microsoft loosens this up in a future update.

Cheers,
–Mark

I haven't tried it, but if you login to your administrator account and set a PIN, then use it to login next time, should it by used in UAC? Of course you must first set a PIN since this is a new installation and login with it at least once.

Thanks both of you, I tried it again today, UAC is still prompting me for the admin password instead of the pin. I guess this is one of those things that got deprecated without MS telling us about it, which is probably why I could not find a solution despite all my searching yesterday. I will just deal with it, I really don't need the admin permission very often anyway. Maybe one day MS will fix the problem for everyone.

Thanks,

Jimmy

Is your admin account a local account, or a Microsoft account? It could make a difference. If it is a Microsoft account you can convert it to local and just login to your Microsoft account once for each application (OneDrive etc). If it is a local account and you are the only user of your PC, you could even remove the password entirely, so you just click the prompt to give access, you are not asked to type any password.

spapakons said:

Is your admin account a local account, or a Microsoft account? It could make a difference. If it is a Microsoft account you can convert it to local and just login to your Microsoft account once for each application (OneDrive etc). If it is a local account and you are the only user of your PC, you could even remove the password entirely, so you just click the prompt to give access, you are not asked to type any password.

Click to expand...

Thanks, my admin account is a Microsoft account. I will try that when I have more time to work on it again.

Jimmy

Does your laptop have a fingerprint sensor? Mine has and I have Windows Hello set up for both accounts. When a program needs elevation, I have only to tap on the sensor and it's immediate.