How-to: Enable the macOS root user

1. In spotlight, search for 'Directory Utility' and open it.
2. Click the lock in the Directory Utility window and authenticate with an admin account.
3. Choose 'Enable Root User' from the Edit menu.
4. Enter the root password you wish to use and click OK.

To disable the root user follow the same steps but choose 'Disable Root User' from the Edit menu.

The user named "root" is a special user in UNIX-style Operating Systems that has read and write privileges to all areas of the file system. Usually, root login is disabled.

The root user should only be used for specific administration or monitoring tasks. After completing a task as the root user, you should log out of macOS.

Related macOS commands

ht1528 - Enabling and using the 'root' user in macOS.