Although you have logged into Windows with a user with administrator permissions, that does not mean that all programs run automatically with administrator permissions. This is designed so that you only activate the admin permissions when it is strictly necessary.
The one in charge of verifying that this rule is fulfilled is the Windows User Account Control (UAC). It is in charge of keeping your PC protected by removing unnecessary permissions and showing notifications every time an application tries to run as administrator.
If you need to do tests on the PC or want to open a terminal window to launch commands, it is most likely that you need to run a certain program with administrator rights. Here are 4 different ways to get it.
Right click and “Run as administrator”
This is the most popular method, and consists of locating the program’s executable file, right-clicking on it, and selecting “Run as administrator”. After this, the account control notification will appear and you will click on “Yes” to confirm.
Use the Windows search engine
If you know where the executable file of a program is, you can invoke it directly from the Windows taskbar search engine. Write the name of the program. When the match appears in the search engine, select the option “Run as administrator.”
In both Windows 10 and Windows 11, you can activate the search engine simply by pressing the Windows symbol on the keyboard.
If the option to “Run as administrator” does not appear among the suggestions, press Control + Shift and hit the “Enter” button while the mouse is highlighting the application you want to open.
The task manager
If you are in front of an infected PC and cannot navigate normally, or simply want to try something different, you can also use the task manager to open privileged programs.
- Press Control + Alt + Del and select “Task Manager.”
- Go to “File -> Run New Task”.
- Enter the name of the executable file and check the box ” Create this task with administrative privileges .” Click on “OK.”
Always run the program as an administrator
In case you need an application to always run with elevated privileges, you can configure it by following these steps:
- Open the Windows search engine and type the name of the program.
- Right-click on the suggested application and click on “Open file location.”
- Now right-click on the program’s .EXE file and choose “Send to desktop”.
- This will create a shortcut of the program on the Windows desktop.
- Finally, right-click on this new shortcut and go to “Properties”.
- In the “Direct Access” tab, click on “Advanced Options” and activate the “Run as administrator” box.
This is a really practical method since you can use the program normally. When we want to use it as administrator, you just have to open the shortcut that you just created on the desktop.
