Move a Computer Account

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

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 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 .

    To open Active Directory Users and Computers in Windows Server® 2012, click Start , type dsa.msc .

  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.

  • 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.

  • You can also perform the task in this procedure by using the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell. To open the Active Directory module, click Start , click Administrative Tools , and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

    To open the Active Directory module in Windows Server 2012, open Server Manager , click Tools and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

    For more information, see Move a Computer Account (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=180686). For more information about Windows PowerShell, see Windows PowerShell (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=102372).

Additional references