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Move a Computer Account

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008

Membership in Account Operators, Domain Admins, or Enterprise Admins, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at Local and Domain Default Groups (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477).

To move a computer account

  1. To open Active Directory Users and Computers, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Active Directory Users and Computers.

  2. In the console tree, click Computers.

    Where?

    • Active Directory Users and Computers/domain node/Computers

    Or, click the folder that contains the computer that you want to move.

  3. In the details pane, right-click the computer, and then click Move.

  4. In the Move dialog box, click the domain node.

  5. Click the folder to which you want to move the computer, and then click OK.

Additional considerations

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or Enterprise Admins group in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

  • Another way to open Active Directory Users and Computers is to click Start, click Run, and then type dsa.msc.

  • You cannot use Active Directory Users and Computers to move computer accounts between domains. To move a computer account between domains, use the Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT), one of the Active Directory support tools. For more information, see ADMT v3 Migration Guide (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=82740).

  • Members of the Account Operators group can move computer accounts to organizational units (OUs) but not to default containers, such as the Builtin or Computers containers. However, Account Operators cannot move computer accounts into the Domain Controllers OU, but they can move computer accounts from the Domain Controllers OU.

Additional references