How To Bypass Error 5: Access Is Denied? [SOLVED]

Have you ever wanted to install software on your Windows or tried to access a file or folder but faced this issue Error 5: Access is Denied? It is a very commonly known issue. Here I will tell you how to fix this problem using five easy methods.

What Is Error 5: Access Is Denied?

Table of Contents

If you receive this error it means that you don’t have the necessary admin privileges required to make these changes. This is actually a very common issue among users albeit easy to solve.

The main reason you may be facing this error is mainly because of a Windows Configuration problem that does not give you the necessary permissions required to make these changes, or a corrupted user account where the UAC does not give permission to a local user.

Alternatively, there may also be a corrupt active directory, or firewall software may be blocking the UAC.

How To Fix Error 5: Access Is Denied?

It is a very broad error, and there are many things you can do about it to fix it all of which may not be relevant to your issue. However, I have compiled a concise solutions list with the procedure that will help you fix this error.

Fix 1: Run As Administrator

If you are the only user on your system like me, you can simply get the admin privileges by right-clicking on the app that you want to run and selecting Run as Administrator.

This seems like a very easy trick and you may be thinking this will not work, but since this error occurs due to administrative privileges not granted, this may just work for you.

You can alternatively move the installer into the OS directory of your system, and then run the installer as an Administrator to see if this works.

If this did not work for you, there is a chance that the problem may be deeper-seated. Try the next fix to see if it resolves your issue.

Fix 2: Fix Security Permissions

The most common reason that Error 5: Access is Denied issue occurs is because of incorrect security Permissions. You can follow these steps to fix this issue:

Open File Explorer.
Type the following location in the address bar and press Enter.

%appdata%\..\Local

Locate the Temp folder and right-click on it and select Properties.
Under the Security tab, click on Advanced.

In the Advanced Security Settings for Temp that shows up, tick the box next to Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object.
Now select any entry that isn’t inherited from C:\Users\[SystemUsername] folder and click Remove.

Click Apply and click OK

This should get you the administrator privileges required to install the app or get access to the file or folder that was previously inaccessible.

If this fails to solve your issue, you can try to enable the built-in Admin account via the command prompt.

Fix 3: Enable Built-in Admin Account

This differs from the administrator account in the fact that this type of account has all the permissions enabled. This enables the user to perform a variety of functions that would otherwise not be executable.

To enable the built-in admin account, follow these steps:

Open an elevated Command Prompt. Press Win + R to open the Run dialogue, type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open it in administrator mode.

Insert the following command to enable the built-in administrator account:

net user administrator /active:yes

Close the command prompt after the command executes. Try to install the software again.
You can disable the built-in administrator account any time you want by entering the following command:

net user administrator /active:no

Fix 4: Adjust UAC Settings

There are some programs that are not compatible with the User Account Control settings. You can change them to adjust their interference in-app installation and folder access.

To change UAC settings, follow these steps:

Press Win + R to open the Run

Type the text: UserAccountControlSettings press Enter.

This will bring up the UAC settings. Adjust the slider to Never Notify and select OK.

Try installing the application again with UAC turned off.

Turn on the UAC settings again to the previous value once the application is installed.

This should allow you full access to your system and let you install the app that wasn’t installing or access the folder which showed this error. If this does not help you resolve your Error 5: Access is Denied issue, you may have to disable the firewall to grant you access to the files.

Fix 5: Disable Firewall

You may have to disable your security software, as it may have been what was restricting the access to your files.

Check how to disable Windows Defender

Conclusion

So there you have it. Now you know how to fix the Error 5: Access is Denied issue using the steps given above. Make sure to comment below if you found any method useful and tell us which method worked for you. If you know any more workarounds, you can share that with us using the comment section down below.