Windows 10: Enable or Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt in Windows

How to: Enable or Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt in Windows

How to Enable or Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt in Windows


When administrator account before starting a program or task that requires a full administrator access token. This prompt ensures that no malicious software can be silently installed or run.

With the Always notify or Default UAC setting enabled, your desktop will be switched to the dimmed secure desktop when you get an elevation request by the User Account Control (UAC) prompt.

A user that is a member of the Administrators group can log on, browse the Web, and read e-mail while using a standard user access token. When the administrator needs to perform a task that requires the administrator access token, Windows 10 automatically prompts the user for Y/N approval. This prompt is called an elevation prompt for UAC consent prompt.

The user experience for standard users is different from that of administrators in Admin Approval Mode. The recommended and more secure method of running Windows 10 is to make your primary user account a standard user account. Running as a standard user helps to maximize security for a managed environment. With the built-in UAC elevation component, standard users can easily perform an administrative task by entering valid credentials for a local administrator account. The default, built-in UAC elevation component for standard users is the UAC credential prompt.

See also: How User Account Control works (Windows 10) | Microsoft Docs

The User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation local security policy determines whether the UAC prompt is displayed on the interactive user's desktop or the dimmed secure desktop (default).

• If enabled (default), all elevation requests go to the secure desktop regardless of prompt behavior policy settings for administrators and standard users.
• If disabled, all elevation requests go to the interactive user's desktop. Prompt behavior policy settings for administrators and standard users are used.

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable the User Account Control (UAC) prompt displaying on the dimmed secure desktop for all users in Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10.

*Warning You must be signed in as an administrator to enable or disable the dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt.

*Warning If you disable the secure desktop, other apps might be able to interfere with the visual appearance of the UAC dialog box. This is a security risk, especially if there's malware on your PC.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: Turn On or Off Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt in UAC Settings
• Option Two: Enable or Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt in Local Security Policy
• Option Three: Enable or Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt using a REG file

EXAMPLE: UAC prompt on dimmed Secure Desktop enabled and disabled











OPTION ONE [/i] Turn On or Off Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt in UAC Settings
1. Change your User Account Control Settings to the level you want below: (see screenshot below)

A) Always notify (turn on secure desktop)

OR

B) Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer (default - turn on secure desktop)

OR

C) Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer (don't dim my desktop) (turn off secure desktop)









OPTION TWO [/i] Enable or Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt in Local Security Policy

*note The Local Security Policy is only available in the Windows 7/8/10 Pro, Windows 7/8/10 Enterprise, and Windows 10 Education editions.

All editions can use Option Three below.

*note If disabled, this option will override Option One without affecting the UAC level setting.
1. Open the Local Security Policy (secpol.msc).

2. Expand open Local Policies and Security Options in the left pane of Local Security Policy, and double click/tap on the User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop with prompting for elevation policy to edit it. (see screenshot below)



3. Do step 4 (enable) or step 5 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


4. To Enable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt
*note This is the default setting.
A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)

5. To Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt
A) Select (dot) Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)




6. When finished, close the Local Security Policy window if you like.





OPTION THREE [/i] Enable or Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt using a REG file

*note If disabled, this option will override Option One without affecting the UAC level setting.

*note The downloadable .reg files below will modify the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

PromptOnSecureDesktop DWORD

0 = Disable
1 = Enable


1. Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Enable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt
*note This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Enable_secure_desktop_for_UAC_prompt.reg

Download

3. To Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC prompt
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Disable_secure_desktop_for_UAC_prompt.reg

Download
4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Enable or Disable User Account Control (UAC) in Windows
• How to Enable or Disable User Account Control (UAC) prompt for Built-in Administrator in Windows
• How to Change User Account Control (UAC) Settings in Windows 10
• How to Change User Account Control (UAC) prompt Behavior for Administrators in Windows
• How to Change User Account Control (UAC) prompt Behavior for Standard Users in Windows
• How to Hide or Show Administrators in UAC prompt for Standard Users in Windows
• How to Enable or Disable Ctrl+Alt+Delete Secure Desktop for UAC prompt in Windows

:)

 

Problem with UAC in win 10

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. Appreciate your interest in using Windows 10.

To disable UAC prompts, I suggest you to follow the steps provided below:

• In the search bar, type Control Panel and press Enter.
• Click on User Accounts and again click on User Accounts.
• Click on Change User account control settings.
• Provide password for the UAC prompt.
• Drag the box from Always Notify to Never Notify and click on OK.
• Provide password for the UAC prompt (if asked again).

Important: Turning off UAC reduces the security of your computer and may expose you to increased risk from malicious software. We do not recommend leaving UAC disabled.

Hope the information is helpful. Feel free to write to us for any other assistance with Windows, we’ll be glad to assist you.

 

Any way to enable an admin password for UAC in windows 10?

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft community.

I suggest you to follow the steps below and check if this helps:

• Open User Account Control Settings by clicking the Start button.
• Then type uac, and then click Change User Account Control settings.
  
• 
  Do one of the following:
  

• To turn off UAC, move the slider to the Never notify position, and then click
  OK. 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. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Hope this information was helpful and do let us know if you need further assistance. We will be glad to assist.

 

Grant a specific application permanent UAC permission

Hello jaksps,

In line with your concern, User Account Control doesn't have a "allowed-or-blocked" list and disabling the User Account Control involves security risks. Though, there is a workaround to run a program without UAC prompt using Task Scheduler. I'd recommend
performing the steps suggested by SpiritX MS MVP in this
thread.

Looking forward to your response.

Regards.

 

Sign in prompt

Hi Mankyda,

Thank you for your interest in Windows 10.

Firstly I suggest you to restart the computer.

If issue still persists, try to disable UAC (User Account Control) and check if the pop up reappears.

Follow these steps to disable UAC:

• 
  Open Control Panel. Under User Account and Family settings click on the "Add or remove user account."
  
• 
  Click on the user account.
  
• 
  Under the user account click on the "Go to the main User Account page" link.
  
• 
  Under "Make changes to your user account" click on the "Change security settings" link.
  
• 
  In the "Turn on User Account Control (UAC) to make your computer more secure" click to unselect the "Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer." Click on the Ok button.
  
• 
  You will be prompted to reboot the computer.
  

Note: You must restart your computer when you enable or disable UAC. Changing levels of notification does not require that you restart your computer.

Hope this will fix the issue, if not let us know with the updated status and we will be happy to assist you further.

 

Tip: Yes to Prompts & No to Dimming

To have UAC prompts w/out the screen dimming, in Search type
UAC... you will see a blue flag & Change User Account Control settings... hit Enter or click on it.

Change it from this, the default



By lowering the slider one step to this



Cheers,

Drew