Though you should always be cautious about running untrusted apps as an administrator, there are many legitimate ones that require an admin access token to perform as they should. As a result, if your application isn't working correctly, it's useful to know how to run a program as an administrator.
Windows 10: Run as administrator CMD, PowerShell or any other app
Examples of when an application may need a full administrator access key include during installation, when applying compatibility settings, and when writing to or modifying content in restricted folders.
When this happens, users typically receive a User Account Control (UAC) dialog asking them to provide their consent for administrator rights. However, not every application asks for admin rights when it needs it, making it useful to know how to make an app run as an administrator manually.
Today we're going to show you several ways to achieve this, as well as how to make it so a specific app always runs as an administrator. What we won't be showing is how to make every?app run as an administrator, as this represents a large security risk and should only be used in specific cases.
How to Run as Administrator in Windows 10 with Keyboard Shortcut
The Windows 10 run as administrator keyboard shortcut is incredibly useful and criminally underused. It's no wonder, as Microsoft does not widely advertise its existence. Here's what you have to do to get it to work:
How to Run a Program Administrator via the Context Menu
This is perhaps the most widely known method to run an app as administrator, and that makes sense. It's intuitive, fast, and works every time. If you aren't aware already, here's how you do it:
How to To Run as Administrator via the Run Dialog
For some apps, it may be easier to simply run them as an admin via the Run dialog rather than search for their location.
How To Run Programs as an Admin from the Start Menu
The Start menu is the way many of us choose to launch apps, so it makes sense to show you how to launch them as an admin there, too.
How to Run a Program as Administrator in Windows 10 from the File Explorer Ribbon
If you've already navigated to an application in File Explorer, it can make sense to launch it as an admin via the File Explorer ribbon. Here's how you do that:
- Click on the app, switch to the “Application Tools” tab in the ribbon and press “Run as administrator”
For most people, this will be slower than using the context menu, but if you're using a touchscreen then it's the much more touch-friendly method.
- OR: select “Run as administrator” from the drop-down menu
You can also click on the bottom half of the icon and select “Run as administrator” from the dropdown. This may be useful if you have a different option for the main button by default.
How to Run a Taskbar App as Administrator
Though Microsoft doesn't make it obvious, you can also run an app as an administrator directly from your taskbar icon. Here's how:
How to Run as Administrator Through Task Manager
If you're having issues with Windows Explorer or you just want to be fancy, Task Manager provides a way to run new tasks as an administrator:
- Open Task Manager
Press Start and type “Task Manager”, then click the top result. Alternatively, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
- Click “More details” at the bottom of the Task Manager window
If you don't have this option, it's because you've clicked it before in the past. You don't need to perform this step in that case.
- Click “File > Run new task”
- Type the name of the app, tick “Create this task with administrative privileges” and press “OK”
How to Always Run as Administrator in Windows 10 with Advanced Shortcut Properties
If you have an app that needs admin privileges every time it runs, it can be a real bother to remember to right-click it every time. To avoid this, you can set it to always ask for admin privileges on launch. You'll still have to accept the UAC dialog, but it saves you a couple of clicks.
How to Always Run as Administrator via Compatibility Properties
If you don't have a shortcut to the app, you can make it always run as an administrator through the compatibility tab in its properties:
- Right-click your app and select “Properties”
- Open the “Compatibility” tab and tick “Run this program as an administrator”
Press “OK” to apply the changes.
- Optional: Choose whether to apply the changes to all users
If you want a different setting for different users, you can press the “Change settings for all users” button at the bottom of the “Compatibility” tab.
- Tick or untick “Run this program as an administrator”
Unticking the box will only run the app as an admin automatically for you. Everyone else will have to do it manually. Press “OK” to apply the changes.
How to Always Run an App as Administrator in Registry Editor
If the above methods aren't working for you, you can turn to the registry editor instead. Doing so is a little more intimidating, but if you follow the tips in our safe registry editing guide you'll be just fine.
- Open the Registry Editor
Press Start and then type “Regedit”. Click the top result.
- Navigate to the app compatibility registry key and add a new string value
In the top bar of your Registry Editor, paste the following:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers
Right-click the empty space in the main pane and choose “New > String Value”.
- Type the path to your program exe as the file name
In our case, that's
C:/Program Files/Paint.net/UpdateMonitor.exe
. - Double-click the new string and enter “~RUNASADMIN” in the value data field
Press “OK” to apply the change. When you next start your app it should run as an admin.
Last Updated on February 15, 2023 5:12 pm CET by Markus Kasanmascheff