Editing Encyclopedia:Administrators (section)

== Restoration of admin tools ==
{{anchor|Resysop}}
Regardless of the process by which the admin tools are removed, any editor is free to re-request the tools through the [[WP:RFA|requests for adminship]] process.<ref>Excepting those with a specific arbitration or community sanction barring the request.</ref>

Former administrators may re-request the admin tools subsequent to voluntary removal or removal due to inactivity. The request is granted unless one of these situations applies:

* '''The admin tools were removed while the administrator was "under a cloud".''' If there were serious questions about the appropriateness of the former admin's status as an administrator at the time of resignation or removal, the request will be referred to [[WP:RFA]]. In doubtful cases, re-granting of the tools will be deferred until a broader community discussion takes place and is closed.
* '''Removed as a result of a [[WP:CBAN|community site ban]].''' When an editor's admin tools are removed as a result of a community site ban, the editor will need to re-apply through the typical process ([[WP:RFA]]) to regain the tools.<ref>Except in the rare instance where the ban is reversed due to a mistake by the community (but not merely due to a successful appeal of the ban), in which case the tools' removals are reversed as well. See [[Special:Permalink/1155585586#Alternate proposal (Procedural community desysop)|2023 RfC]].</ref>
* {{anchor|Lengthy inactivity}}'''Lengthy inactivity'''
**'''Over two years with no edits.''' If an editor has had at least two years of uninterrupted inactivity (no edits) between the removal of the admin tools and the re-request, regardless of the reason for removal, the editor will need to request reinstatement through the [[WP:RFA]] process; [[Wikipedia:Administrators#Procedure|requesting]] the restoration of administrator tools through the [[WP:BN|bureaucrats' noticeboard]] is no longer an option. In the case of an administrator desysopped due to a year of inactivity, one additional year of continued uninterrupted inactivity (no edits) from the removal due to inactivity will make a new [[WP:RFA]] necessary for reinstatement.<ref>Revised [[Wikipedia:Requests for comment/2019 Resysop Criteria (2)#Statement 7 by Amorymeltzer|November 2019]]; originally formulated in [[Wikipedia talk:Administrators/Archive 13#Restoration of the tools (proposal)|November 2012]]</ref>
** '''Over five years since administrative tools were last used.''' For any administrator who does not have a logged administrator action in five years, bureaucrats should not restore administrator access upon request.<ref>A [[Special:Permalink/1128194757#Clarifying 5 year rule|2022 RfC]] clarified a [[Special:Permalink/828580847#RFC: Slight tweak to lengthy inactivity policy|2018 RfC]] that this should be interpreted as {{tqq|five years since the last tool use, regardless of whether the five-year mark falls before or after the desysop.}} Before a [[Special:Permalink/1257760116#RFC: Resysoppings after five years with no administrative actions|2024 RfC]], this only applied to administrators desysopped for inactivity.</ref>
* '''Security of account cannot be established.''' At their discretion, [[WP:BUREAUCRAT|bureaucrats]] may decline to restore admin tools to an editor if they are not satisfied that the account is controlled by the same person who used it previously.
* '''A bureaucrat is not reasonably convinced that the user has returned to activity or intends to return to activity as an editor'''.<ref name="Resysop-2019-1">See {{section link|Wikipedia:Requests for comment/2019 Resysop Criteria (2)|Statement 1 by TonyBallioni}}</ref> Should there be doubt concerning the suitability for restoration of the admin tools, the restoration shall be delayed until sufficient discussion has occurred and a consensus established through a discussion among bureaucrats.<ref name="Resysop-2019-2">See {{section link|Wikipedia:Requests for comment/2019 Resysop Criteria (2)|Statement 3 by Hasteur}}</ref>

=== Procedure ===
Former administrators may request restoration of admin tools by placing a request at [[Wikipedia:Bureaucrats' noticeboard]]. There is a standard 24-hour review period before the request may be granted by a bureaucrat according to  [[WP:RESYSOP|resysop procedures]]. The change is recorded at the [[Wikipedia:List of resysopped users|list of resysopped users]].