What are you disabling when you configure uac to not dim the desktop?

Do you find User Account Control annoying? You can modify the settings so UAC is less intrusive, or completely disable it (which we don’t recommend).

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To Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC Prompt in Windows 10,
Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop with Local Security Policy
Enable UAC Prompt for Built-in Administrator with a Registry Tweak

Except for a new user interface (UI), little has changed over the years since we first explained how to adjust UAC in Windows 7. That said, here’s a quick refresher from Windows 7 – Windows 10.

Accessing UAC is slightly different in Windows 7, 8, and 10. However, today we’ll show you a straightforward way that is common to all three Windows versions. We used Windows 10 in our example, but the procedure works the same way in Windows 7 and 8.

Hit the Windows key and start typing “user account control.” Search results start to display as you type. When you see the Change User Account Control settings Control panel option under Best match, click on that.

You can disable UAC by moving the slider down to Never notify. However, we don’t recommend that. It’s there for a reason, and your PC will be less secure with UAC disabled.

The Always notify option at the top causes Windows always to ask you to verify whenever you install a program that makes changes to your PC or when you make changes to Windows settings. The UAC dialog box will always display on a dimmed desktop.

The middle two settings on the slider are similar. They both only notify you with the UAC dialog box when programs try to make changes to your PC, but not when you change Windows settings. The difference between the two settings is that the higher one dims your screen during the notification and the lower one doesn’t. When the screen is dimmed, you can’t access anything else but the UAC prompt. You can access your desktop and do other things without dimming before responding to the UAC prompt.

Click OK once you’ve made your selection.

The User Account Control dialog box displays at the previous compression level. The level you just chose will take effect the next time you do something that requires verification to make changes to your PC.

You can temporarily disable UAC if you’re installing several trusted programs in one sitting. However, remember to enable UAC again to get the extra security protection is provided.

Which UAC setting do you use most of the time? Have you found UAC helpful or annoying? Please share your thoughts and experiences with us in the comments.

Microsoft, Security, Windows 10, Windows 7

User Account Control, or just UAC is a part of the Windows security system which prevents apps from making unwanted changes on your PC. By default, the UAC prompt appears on a the dimmed secure desktop when you get an security request by the User Account Control. Here is how to enable or disable this feature in Windows 10.

Since Windows Vista, Microsoft added a new security feature called User Account Control (UAC). It tries to prevent malicious apps from doing potentially harmful things on your PC. When some software tries to change system-related parts of the Registry or the file system, Windows 10 shows an UAC confirmation dialog, where the user should confirm if he really wants to make those changes. Usually, the apps that require elevation are related to the management of Windows or your computer in general. A good example would be the Registry Editor app.

The UAC comes with different security levels. When its options are set to Always notify or Default, your Desktop will be dimmed. The session will be temporary switched to the secure Desktop without open windows and icons, containing only an elevation prompt by the User Account Control (UAC).

Members of the Administrators user group have to confirm or reject the UAC prompt without providing extra credentials (UAC consent prompt). Users without administrative privileges have to additionally enter valid credentials for a local administrator account (UAC credential prompt).

Note: There is a special security policy in Windows 10 that allows hiding the available local administrative accounts from a UAC prompt. See

Hide Administrator Account From UAC Prompt in Windows 10

When Windows shows a UAC prompt, by default it appears on the dimmed secure desktop. Both consent and credential prompts are displayed on the secure desktop in Windows 10. Only Windows processes can access the secure desktop.

The secure desktop is enabled:

The secure desktop is disabled:

If you have a reason to disable the secure desktop feature, here is how it can be done.

Before proceeding please keep in mind that disabling the secure desktop feature will allow third-party apps interfere with the UAC dialog. This is a security risk!

To Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop for UAC Prompt in Windows 10,

Open the classic Control Panel.
Navigate to Control Panel\System and Security\Security and Maintenance.
Click on the Change User Account Control settings link. Tip: You can launch the file C:\Windows\System32\UserAccountControlSettings.exe directly!
Move the slider position down to the option Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer (don't dim my desktop).

Note: The option Never notify me (turn off UAC) disables the UAC prompt (not recommended, a security risk). The option Always notify me increases frequency of UAC prompts. You will see them even for built-in signed apps. The option Notify me only when apps try to make changes to my computer is the default option.

Also, the secure desktop feature can be disabled or enabled separately from the User Account Control settings. There is special Local Security option User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop with prompting for elevation you can configure to achieve the desired behavior.

Note: If you are running Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education edition, you can use the Local Security Policy app to enable the option User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop with prompting for elevation. All editions of Windows 10 can use a special Registry tweak.

Disable Dimmed Secure Desktop with Local Security Policy

Press Win + R keys together on your keyboard and type:secpol.msc
Press Enter.
Local Security Policy will open. Go to User Local Policies -> Security Options.
On the right, scroll to the option User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop with prompting for elevation.
Disable this policy, and click on Apply and OK to apply the change.

If your Windows edition doesn't include the secpol.msc tool, you can apply a Registry tweak as described below.