To move a user account using the Windows interface

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 Users.

   Where?

   • Active Directory Users and Computers\domain node\Users
     
     

   Or, click the folder that contains the user account.

3. In the details pane, right-click the user that you want to move, and then click Move.

4. In the Move dialog box, click the folder to which you want to move the user account.

• 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 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. For more information, see Move a User Account (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=138372). For more information about Windows PowerShell, see Windows PowerShell (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=102372).
  
  

You cannot use Active Directory Users and Computers to move user accounts between domains. To move a user account between domains, use the Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT), one of the Active Directory support tools. For more information, see ADMT v3.1 Guide: Migrating and Restructuring Active Directory Domains (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=82740).

• Managing Users
  
  

To move a user account using a command line

1. To open a command prompt, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.

2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

   dsmove <UserDN> [-newparent<ParentDN>]
   

To view the complete syntax for this command, and for information about entering user account information, at a command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER:

dsmove /? 

• To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or Enterprise Admins group in AD DS, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.
  
  
• 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. For more information, see Move a User Account (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=138372). For more information about Windows PowerShell, see Windows PowerShell (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=102372).
  
  

• Managing Users