Windows 10 Quick Tips – Run As Administrator

By Richard Pedersen / 09/13/2017 / 10 Comments / How-To, Windows 10

Administrator Permissions

When you set up a single account on a Windows System it will be, by default, an Administrator Account. However, when you run programs or Apps, they will be run with a standard user access level. This is a security feature that was introduced in Vista so it has been around for about 10 years. By defaulting to Standard User levels the idea is that malware won’t have access to critical system controls.

Sometimes, however, you will need to run a particular program with Administrator permissions and this week’s Quick Tips article will show you how…

Four Starting Points

There are four different ways to run a program/App as an Administrator depending on how you access them:

If you run it by clicking on a Desktop icon, you can right-cick the icon and choose Run as administrator
If you run it using the Start Menu, then right-click it, choose More, then choose Run as administrator
If you run it from the Taskbar, then right-click the icon, right-click the program name, then choose Run as administrator
If you run the program from a search list, you can right-click it, then choose Run as administrator

Note: Using the hotkey combination Ctrl+Shift when clicking the icons will accomplish the same thing thus saving you a few mouse clicks.

Hotkeys

If you would prefer to keep your hands on the keyboard, there is a Hotkey combination you can use:

If the program in question is at the top of a Search List, then typing Ctrl+Shift+Enter will do the job

Bonus Tip

Let’s say there is a program that you always want to run with administrator privileges? There’s a quick way to make that happen.

Right-click the program icon and choose Properties
Click the Compatability Tab
Check the box labeled Run this program as an administrator
Click OK

It should look something like this:

The above example shows the Properties Sheet for CCleaner. From now on, whenever this program is run using this Shortcut, it will run with Administrator Privileges.

As always, if you have any helpful suggestions or comments, please share them with us,

Richard

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About The Author

Richard Pedersen

Richard received his first computer, a C-64, in 1982 as a gift and began dabbling in BASIC. He was hooked! His love for computing has led him from the old “XT” boxes to the more modern fare and from clunky 10MB hard drives to smooth and fast modern day SSD drives. He has run BBS services, Fido mail, and even operated his own computer repair business.

10 thoughts on “Windows 10 Quick Tips – Run As Administrator”

dandl
09/13/2017 at 8:43 pm

Admin privilege is one thing, but do you run the Administrator account as active?
1. Richard Pedersen
  09/13/2017 at 9:23 pm
  
  Hi Dandl,
  I have no idea what you’re talking about. What I am talking about is setting up a single Windows 10 account– it will default to an Administrative Account, even though you won’t be able to expect that to follow through when you run a program or App.
  
  Running your system with Administrator privileges invoked on a regular basis is not a wise choice.
  
  Sorry, Dandl, but I don’t know what you mean,
  Richard
dandl
09/13/2017 at 11:20 pm

Do You ever login to the Built In Administrator Account?
1. Richard Pedersen
  09/13/2017 at 11:35 pm
  
  Nope
Richard Rein
09/16/2017 at 9:50 am

I followed your instructions explicitly both for Ccleaner and Process Explorer but I am still prompted by UAC for administrator permission. I am running the latest version of Windows 10 from an administrator account.
1. Richard Pedersen
  09/16/2017 at 12:49 pm
  
  Hi Richard,
  
  User Account Control (UAC) and Administrator Privileges are two different things. My biggest gripe about UAC is that it doesn’t learn. It will bug you each and every time for the same program. Doh…
  
  I don’t know about Process Explorer, but CCleaner has a setting which will allow it to bypass the UAC pop-up:
  
  1. Run CCleaner
  2. Choose Options
  3. Choose Advanced
  4. Check the box labeled, “Skip User Account Control warning”
  
  Hope that helps,
  Richard
  1. Richard Rein
    09/16/2017 at 8:51 pm
    
    Hi Richard,
    
    The “Skip User Account Control warning” was already checked in Ccleaner. It doesn’t seem to be working for me. Any idea why this is happening?
    1. Richard Pedersen
      09/16/2017 at 10:44 pm
      
      Hi Richard,
      
      I have no idea why this wouldn’t be working.
      
      I will resort to the old tried and true suggestion of reinstalling CCleaner and going from there. Be sure to get the latest and greatest version of the program. Currently, that is version 5.34.6207, I think…
      
      There is always the unsavory option of disabling UAC, but that is not recommended for security reasons. Our friend and moderator, Dandl, on the DCT Forums, mentioned this, but it is not my first choice.
      
      Sorry I don’t have a better idea right now,
      Richard
Colin B
09/16/2017 at 9:26 pm

Wow. This site is getting even better just lately.
Great amount of knowledge given away that is useful and readable.
Sorry to be so gushing but I do get about Forums etc but find “Daves”
the best (so far).
So thanks to you guys/gals for your valuable time and keep it up !
Another great read there, Mr Richard Pederson. I’ve often wondered about
Admin. permissions etc.
Now I’m starting to understand things much better.
1. Richard Pedersen
  09/16/2017 at 10:24 pm
  
  Hi Colin B,
  
  I like “gushing”. Gushing is good. It makes everything worthwhile, 🙂
  
  Thanks for the positive feedback and I am happy that we are helping. That’s the whole point of it all,
  Richard

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