Run Applications As Administrator by Default in Windows 10 - Super User

6/14/22, 12:34 AM Run applications as administrator by default in Windows 10 - Super User
Run applications as administrator by default

in Windows 10
Asked 6 years, 6 months ago Modified 3 years ago Viewed 193k times
I have just got a new laptop with Microsoft Windows 10.

My previous laptop ran Windows 7.
55
I'm trying to get applications to "run as administrator" by
default, so that I'm not constantly having trouble
saving/overwriting files, etc. The priority here is to be able
30 to modify my own files on an external hard drive; I
wouldn't have expected that I'd have to do anything
special to be able to do this. My user account on the
laptop is an "Administrator" account, and I have set the
User Account Control setting to "Never notify". I thought
that this would achieve the effect I want (as also suggested
in this related question in relation to Windows 7).
Here's a screenshot of my setting to disable UAC in

Windows 10:
Still, Notepad++ (for one) is not automatically starting with

administrative rights. What else do I need to do, or what
am I overlooking?
Thanks
https://superuser.com/questions/1002262/run-applications-as-administrator-by-default-in-windo… 1/12
PS. I'm aware that what I'm trying to do is a security risk,

but that's not the point of this question; whether I should
or should not do something is different to whether I can or
cannot do something.
windows-10 administrator uac runas
Share Improve this question edited Mar 20, 2017 at 10:17

Follow Community Bot
1
asked Nov 18, 2015 at 12:30

osullic
889 2 9 11
2 Considering you cannot fully disable UAC in Windows 8 and

above I am not sure how you followed the related question's
answer. You can normally do this by setting the shortcut to the
application in question to always run as an Administrator. You
do understand what you are asking is a HUGE security risk on
your part, always running stuff as an Administrator, is how the
randsomware malware encrypts your files (the process requires
Administrator permissions ). – Ramhound Nov 18, 2015 at
12:36
2 If you’re “constantly having trouble saving/overwriting files,

etc”, you should probably rethink the way you use your
computer. This type of stuff just doesn’t happen, ever, when
normally using a computer. – Daniel B Nov 18, 2015 at 14:31
@Daniel It may be something simple that I've overlooked, but

without running Notepad++ as administrator, I don't seem to
be able to overwrite simple text files that I have on an external
hard drive. I consider this to be "normally using a computer". I
know I could right-click the Notepad++ icon to run as
administrator, but I generally run Notepad++ by right-clicking

on a text file and using the Explorer context menu to open in
Notepad++ and that doesn't seem to run Notepad++ with
admin rights. – osullic Nov 18, 2015 at 16:31
@osullic You should change the access control lists on those

files so your account has Full Control. Running as elevated
admin all the time is way overkill. – Ben N Nov 18, 2015 at
16:37
Thanks @Ben, that sounds like a better solution. How do I

change the access control lists? Is that by right-clicking on a
file/folder and changing permissions in the Security tab?
– osullic Nov 18, 2015 at 17:11
Sorted by:
5 Answers
Highest score (default)
Updated answer: solving the problem instead of

answering the question.
33
To change the ACLs on the external drive, open its
properties and go to the Security tab:
Notice that Authenticated Users doesn't have "Full

control"; only Administrators does, and you're not really a
member of Administrators unless elevated. Click Advanced.
(The owner will probably be Administrators.) Click Add.
Click "Select a principal", and type your username in the

box. Check "Full control", then click OK.
Now that we're back in the advanced ACL editor, check the
box that replaces child item ACLs. Click OK and accept the
warning. Click OK on the properties window, wait for the

operation to complete (if there is one), and you're done.
The original (dangerous) answer follows below the line.
Danger! This is almost certainly a bad plan, for reasons

explained in Ramhound's comment.
Run gpedit.msc to open the Local Group Policy Editor.

Expand Computer Configuration, Windows Settings, Security
Settings, Local Policies, and Security Options. Four settings
need to be updated:
1. Set "User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation

prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode"
to Elevate without prompting.
2. Set "User Account Control: Detect application

installations and prompt for elevation" to Disabled.
3. Set "User Account Control: Run all administrators in

Admin Approval Mode" to Disabled.
4. Set "User Account Control: Only elevate UIAccess

applications that are installed in secure locations" to
Disabled.
The LGPE automatically saves all changes, so exit it and

reboot.
Again, this is a very insecure configuration that you're

creating here.
Share Improve this answer edited Nov 18, 2015 at 17:23
Follow
answered Nov 18, 2015 at 14:24

Ben N
38.4k 17 132 172
4 I should add doing what is suggest will break ALL Windows

Store applications in Windows 10. This includes the default
applications like Calculator and the new way to access the
control panel. – Ramhound Nov 18, 2015 at 14:27
@osullic - It is widely encountered but in 99% of the cases an

application only requests elevated permission when its
required and most people are fine with that. This will come at a
shock to you. Running with Full Control set to certain
directory will still present problems. – Ramhound Nov 18, 2015
at 17:41
1 @setec You might need to change the owner to yourself or

Administrators before granting yourself full control; some
folders are restricted and initially owned by TrustedInstaller.
– Ben N May 14, 2018 at 17:03
2 To avoid the problem with UWP apps refusing to run I changed

another 2 in gpedit: - Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in
Administrator account *Disabled - Run all administrators in
Admin Approval Mode *Disabled And then just for
completeness: - Switch to the secure desktop when prompting
for elevation *Disabled The sole remaining time I still had a
problem was PIN (akka Hello) activation. For that I just gave it
all defaults back, ran it and then switched again. So for a fresh
box, people my want to activate PIN first and then do these
changes. – ZXX Oct 27, 2018 at 5:16
1 The "Danger Settings" are the best for ones that want the full
Windows administrator account, as it was until Windows 7.
Microsoft Store apps not broken, apparently, maybe because
the new options you added editing the answer and/or some
changes in how Windows 10 works since the answer year
(2015) I'm using Windows 10 Pro v1909 (November 2019
(2015). I m using Windows 10 Pro v1909 (November 2019
Update). Although it makes Windows more insecure, in certain
installations, if you know what you are doing, I think is no
problem using this suggestion. – Lord_Dracon Mar 23, 2020 at
4:00
It looks like there are a few options to run an application as

administrator by default that you can try.
24
1. Right-click the application's Shortcut >> Go to
Properties >> Click the Advanced button on the
Shortcut tab >> Check the "Run as administrator" box
>> Click OK. -
2. Right-click the application >> Go to Properties >>

Click the Compatibility tab >> Check "Run this
program as an administrator" >> Click OK. -
Note: While trying my second option (above), I had one

application that didn't initially have the "Run this program
as an administrator" checkbox. I had to do the following to
get the checkbox to appear and to always run as an
administrator:
1. Click the "Run compatibility troubleshooter" button
2. Click the "Troubleshoot Program" option
3. Check the "The program requires additional

permissions" checkbox.
4. Click "Next" and click the "Test the program..." button

(to verify the program runs properly).
5. Click "Next" and click the "Yes, save these settings for
this program"
Bill Garrison confirmed that the solution found at How can

I run ALL my Apps “as administrator” by default in
Windows 7? works for Windows 10. There is at least one
other method, you can set UAC to the lowest setting, but
doing so also causes the Windows 10 native apps (like the
calculator) to fail.
Below is the quoted answer:
Add User To Administrators Group And Remove

From Users Group:
1. Log In As Administrator
2. Go To Run ( WinKey + R )
3. Type "control userpasswords2"
4. Select Your Account And Click On "Properties"
5. Select "Group Membership" Tab
6. Select "Administrators"
7. Click OK And OK
Disable Approval Mode
1. Log In As Administrator
2. Go To Run ( WinKey + R )
3. Type "secpol.msc"
4. Go To Local Polices > Security Options
5. Find "User Account Control: Switch to the

secure desktop when prompting for
elevation"
6. Open It Click Disable It And Click Ok.
7. Restart Computer( Very Important Log Off

Doesn't Work )
Share Improve this answer edited Jun 12, 2020 at 13:48

Follow Community Bot
1
answered Jul 22, 2016 at 13:53

majestzim
349 2 6
2 This is not running everything as admin. You have to repeat it

for every application that you want. See answers from
@fritzmg or mine on how to run everything as admin.
– Dio Phung Mar 24, 2017 at 0:46
It also breaks running batch files next to other files, it can't find
the file - the full path has to be put in the batch file - no
thanks. – bat_cmd Apr 27 at 17:56
To disable UAC completely, the EnableLUA property of
23 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersi
in the registry needs to be changed to 0 . This disables the

"administrator in Admin Approval Mode" user type, thus
allowing all administrator users to run their processes as

administrators by default.
See also: EnableLUA | msdn.microsoft.com
After doing that, your programs/processes will be run in

Administrator mode by default (given that your user is an
Administrator), i.e. you will not be having (so much) trouble
saving files to certain locations, without launching the
respective program specifically as Administrator first.
(from Always run programs as administrator in Windows

10 | Super User)
// ah sorry, this is a duplicate of @ben-n 's original answer

- only difference is doing it via the Registry instead of
gpedit.msc
Share Improve this answer edited Mar 22, 2018 at 12:56

Follow user867007
answered Aug 14, 2016 at 12:18

fritzmg
421 5 13
If a search lead you here, and you want to "run (certain)

applications as administrator by default" - even when it is
10 launched by an associated file type or anything other than
a special shortcut, you have to use the registry. Those
compatibility tabs on the file properties dialog are no
longer available in windows 10, and other registry hacks
for older windows versions have also been removed.
Microsoft purposely doesn't want to make this easy to do

anymore.
If you don't already know why you shouldn't

do this, you should stop now.
For Why you should or shouldn't do this you need to
look elsewhere.
Below you will learn how.
Create a new string value in one of these existing keys:

(create the "Layers" key also - if necessary)
(for current account only)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers
(for all users)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers
The name of the new string value should be the path

(without quotes) to the application you want to always
launch elevated.
For example:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual

Studio\2017\Professional\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe"
(but WITHOUT quotes!)
The value of this key should be
~ RUNASADMIN
https://superuser.com/questions/1002262/run-applications-as-administrator-by-default-in-wind… 10/12
it should look like this:
After you set the key value and name correctly, you are
done! Launch the app using an associated file and you'll
see the elevation prompt.
Share Improve this answer edited May 31, 2019 at 16:35

Follow
answered Sep 22, 2017 at 18:19

DanO
2,730 1 17 19
Can you add reference for For Why you should or shouldn't do
this you need to look elsewhere. what this refers here, your
solution or setting UAC ? – Morse Sep 20, 2018 at 18:11
2 Prateek, UAC is a security measure. You can probably guess

that bypassing it makes your PC less secure. If you don't
already know that, your are in no position to determine if
bypassing it is really the right thing for you to do. So I am
asking you not to use the instructions for making dynamite
that follow. The goal is to have you recognize that your are out
of your depth and turn back safely - not give you further false
confidence. – DanO Nov 5, 2018 at 18:06
Just run Powershell as Administrator, then enter this:
6 Set-ItemProperty -Path
"HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
-Name "EnableLUA" -Value "0"
shutdown -r -t 0
Share Improve this answer answered Mar 24, 2017 at 0:45
Follow Dio Phung

839 1 11 27
2 Take note: on Windows 10, if you disable UAC, some built-in

apps (Maps, Edge, Calculator) refused to run. – Dio Phung Feb
1, 2018 at 22:58

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6/14/22, 12:34 AM Run applications as administrator by default in Windows 10 - Super User

Run applications as administrator by default

I have just got a new laptop with Microsoft Windows 10.

Here's a screenshot of my setting to disable UAC in

Still, Notepad++ (for one) is not automatically starting with

PS. I'm aware that what I'm trying to do is a security risk,

windows-10 administrator uac runas

Share Improve this question edited Mar 20, 2017 at 10:17

asked Nov 18, 2015 at 12:30

2 Considering you cannot fully disable UAC in Windows 8 and

2 If you’re “constantly having trouble saving/overwriting files,

@Daniel It may be something simple that I've overlooked, but

administrator, but I generally run Notepad++ by right-clicking

@osullic You should change the access control lists on those

Thanks @Ben, that sounds like a better solution. How do I

Updated answer: solving the problem instead of

Notice that Authenticated Users doesn't have "Full

(The owner will probably be Administrators.) Click Add.

Click "Select a principal", and type your username in the

warning. Click OK on the properties window, wait for the

The original (dangerous) answer follows below the line.

Danger! This is almost certainly a bad plan, for reasons

Run gpedit.msc to open the Local Group Policy Editor.

1. Set "User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation

2. Set "User Account Control: Detect application

3. Set "User Account Control: Run all administrators in

4. Set "User Account Control: Only elevate UIAccess

The LGPE automatically saves all changes, so exit it and

Again, this is a very insecure configuration that you're

Share Improve this answer edited Nov 18, 2015 at 17:23

answered Nov 18, 2015 at 14:24

4 I should add doing what is suggest will break ALL Windows

@osullic - It is widely encountered but in 99% of the cases an

1 @setec You might need to change the owner to yourself or

2 To avoid the problem with UWP apps refusing to run I changed

It looks like there are a few options to run an application as

2. Right-click the application >> Go to Properties >>

Note: While trying my second option (above), I had one

1. Click the "Run compatibility troubleshooter" button

2. Click the "Troubleshoot Program" option

3. Check the "The program requires additional

4. Click "Next" and click the "Test the program..." button

Bill Garrison confirmed that the solution found at How can

Below is the quoted answer:

Add User To Administrators Group And Remove

3. Type "control userpasswords2"

4. Select Your Account And Click On "Properties"

5. Select "Group Membership" Tab

Disable Approval Mode

5. Find "User Account Control: Switch to the

6. Open It Click Disable It And Click Ok.

7. Restart Computer( Very Important Log Off

Share Improve this answer edited Jun 12, 2020 at 13:48

answered Jul 22, 2016 at 13:53

2 This is not running everything as admin. You have to repeat it

To disable UAC completely, the EnableLUA property of

in the registry needs to be changed to 0 . This disables the

allowing all administrator users to run their processes as

See also: EnableLUA | msdn.microsoft.com

After doing that, your programs/processes will be run in

(from Always run programs as administrator in Windows

// ah sorry, this is a duplicate of @ben-n 's original answer

Share Improve this answer edited Mar 22, 2018 at 12:56