Easily Running a Program as the Administrator

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 1, 2019)

When you run a program in Windows, that program is run using whatever user account you used when you logged in to the system. For instance, if I log in using an account named AWyatt, then any programs I run while logged in are executed using whatever security setting and environmental configuration I devised for the AWyatt account.

For some programs, though, you may need a greater level of access to the system. In fact, some programs—particularly those that may access or change system settings—can only be run by an administrator. Fortunately, it is not difficult to run a program as an administrator, regardless of what account I am currently using on the system.

To run a program as an administrator, simply right-click on the program's icon or menu link. You should see a Context menu. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. An example Context menu displayed when right-clicking.

Note the option to "Run as Administrator." If you choose this option, then the program is run using administrator rights. If you don't see the "Run as Administrator" option on the Context menu, it may mean one of three things:

  • The program doesn't require administrator rights in order to run properly.
  • You are already logged in as an administrator (which means that the program is run "as administrator" by default).
  • The program is somehow blocked by Windows from running with admin privileges.

 This tip (10138) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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