Manage a Different Domain
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 manage a different domain
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 .
In the console tree, right-click Active Directory Users and Computers , and then click Change Domain .
Type the domain name.
Or, click Browse , and then select a domain from the list.
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.
If you select the Save this domain setting for the current console check box, Active Directory Users and Computers attempts to connect to the domain that you specify in the Domain field each time that you open Active Directory Users and Computers.
The domain name includes the names of all the domain's parent domains. For example, the domain "sales" can have the full name sales.contoso.com.