No Account With Admin Privileges Sequoia 15.5

before finding out it was now ineffective, I tried a fix that attempts to prompt the creation of a new admin account by deleting a file while in recovery mode.

That no longer works. The Apple answer is to Erase All Contents and Settings, then migrate from a backup. However, people have reported they can’t do that without admin.

I can’t find it, but there is a discussion on this topic where a person posted a procedure that should work. I can’t find it at the moment. The solution uses the dscl command to give your standard user admin capability.

Update: found it

Restoring Lost Administrator on macOS Son… - Apple Community

Beginning with macOS 14.x Sonoma, Apple closed the loophole & huge security flaw which could allow anyone to create a new macOS admin user account.

If you have no macOS admin user accounts or cannot log into a macOS admin user account, then you will need to start over by erasing the system & restoring from a backup. There are no other options for creating a macOS admin user account when using macOS 14.x+.

leroydouglas wrote:

HWTech wrote:

If you have no macOS admin user accounts or cannot log into a macOS admin user account, then you will need to start over by erasing the system & restoring from a backup.

There are no other options for creating a macOS admin user account when using macOS 14.x+.

are you definitively saying the instructions supplied in the Jonas_TheM post is invalid...?

" you can regain admin access without wiping your device! "

ref: Restoring Lost Administrator on macOS Son… - Apple Community

I was referring to the old method which involved deleting the ".AppleSetupDone" file which the OP referred and for which @Barney-15E has a User Tip.

Restarting Setup Assistant to create Admin user account - Apple Community

I hadn't seen @Barney-15E's post when I wrote my reply. Technically I am still correct since the link here for "Restoring Lost Administrator on macOS Sonoma" is converting an existing Standard user account to an admin account and not creating a new account. I know, its quibbling. ;-)

I believe that modifying the "sudoers" file will work. But that is a very risky edit which could prevent all macOS user accounts from being accessed if the entry is not created correctly or an existing entry is deleted.

Personally I would have advised creating a new file with that entry within the "sudoers.d" subfolder which is much safer & equally effective. Plus it is risky making edits without using the "visudo" command which also verifies the "sudoers" file permissions & checks for syntax errors, but that is not available within Recovery Mode (another reason to create a new file instead). And I would recommend removing the added entry to the "sudoers" file using "visudo" once the account is returned to admin status just as a safety precaution.

Thanks for checking. I'm glad to clarify things here. It also reminds me that I need to do better at quoting sections to which I'm referring.

I live under the philosophy that you should never do anything without a backup.

While it isn’t erasing the drive, it is messing with user account settings. If something goes wrong, you might end up locked out altogether.

You need to backup to another drive. It doesn’t matter where it is located, it just needs to be on another drive than the data.

Jxnxthxn_ wrote:

one with a fix that is outdated and no longer works. before finding out it was now ineffective,

I tried a fix that attempts to prompt the creation of a new admin account by deleting a file while in recovery mode.

Include a link or what it is you did try.... for some reference(?)

see whats here: Apple Configurator User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

if in doubt you can—

Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

or on line https://getsupport.apple.com/

Outside the USA—Contact Apple for support and service by phone

See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world.

Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

HWTech wrote:

If you have no macOS admin user accounts or cannot log into a macOS admin user account, then you will need to start over by erasing the system & restoring from a backup.

There are no other options for creating a macOS admin user account when using macOS 14.x+.

are you definitively saying the instructions supplied in the Jonas_TheM post is invalid...?

" you can regain admin access without wiping your device! "

ref: Restoring Lost Administrator on macOS Son… - Apple Community