How to Run Windows 10 Elevated Privileges from Command Prompt?

If you are looking for options to run Windows 10 Elevated Privileges this post is for you.

How to Run Windows 10 Elevated Privileges

The Command Prompt on Windows is one of the most preferred and widely used utilities on your operating system. The tool can be one of the preferred options for executing a few essential commands and changing the settings. You can do that by typing the commands to access your files.

It can be an excellent option for executing multiple tasks all at once. The tool would be the best options to perform a host of applications and used by the administrators and expert users – who are also referred to as power users. How to run the elevated privileges with the Command Prompt? We will cover the aspects of the elevated command prompt in more exceptional detail.

What is the Command Prompt?

Command Prompt is a command-line interpreter used on the Windows ecosystem. It is available on almost all the versions of the Windows operating system. The command prompt is used to execute the commands entered by the user.

The command prompt can be a perfect option for performing a series of advanced administrative functions, troubleshooting major Windows issues, and resolve a few Windows related topics. Though the computer community knows it as the Command Prompt, the tool or utility is officially known as the Windows Command Processor. The other names associated with the CLI utility are Command Shell, CMD prompt, and sometimes referred to as cmd.exe.

Do note that Command Prompt is not MS-DOS. It does share a couple of features with the MS-DOS in terms of the command-line capabilities, but it isn’t MS-DOS. It is a part of the Windows program and emulates the features available on MS-DOS.

Launching Command Prompt should never be a huge issue and does not need any high-end computer literacy. You can find it from the Start menu and open it. You can also launch it through the Windows Search by typing CMD.

Why Launch Command Prompt with Elevated Privileges?

When you launch the Command Prompt as a regular user, you will be opening it and executing the commands using your user context. Most of your tasks should be sufficient enough. However, there are a few situations where you would need to launch the Command Prompt as an administrator. A few of these tasks would need the administrative privileges, and thus a user account will not have access to those privileges.

Some specific commands would not run through the standard Command Prompt. They would need administrative privileges to run them. More often than not, you will need to make system-level changes. Especially when you are set to make changes to the system, files, or root files would invariably need an elevated command prompt.

Running a command prompt with the administrative privileges would be quite simple and easy. You would only need to choose the option to run it as an administrator by selecting the right choice from the context menu. Let us check out the best options that would help you run Windows elevated privileges from Command Prompt.

Method 1 – Use the Win X menu for Elevated Command Prompt

The Windows X menu is one of the most reliable tools that you would go with. Here are the steps involved in helping you use it to launch elevated command prompt –

Open Widows X menu. It can be done by right-clicking on the Start menu or pressing the Windows key and X simultaneously.
Click on the option Command Prompt (Admin). Please note that there are two choices available here, including Command Prompt and Command Prompt (Admin).

The Command Prompt will open with the administrative privileges. You can perform the tasks you want to.

Method 2 – Using the RUN Command

The RUN command is yet another excellent option that can be helpful enough in launching a few tools and utilities with ease. It can be used for launching Command Prompt with elevated privileges as well.

Here are the steps involved in achieving the task –

Launch the RUN dialogue box. It can be done by launching the Win X option as in the above method and choosing RUN. You can even press Windows key and R simultaneously to begin the RUN dialog box.
When the RUN dialog box opens, type in cmd.exe
Press Shift+ Ctrl+ Enter.

That does it. It will launch the Command Prompt with administrative privilege.

Method 3 – Using the Start menu

That should be the straightforward option to run elevated privileges from Command Prompt.

The steps you can follow would include –

Click on START
Type in cmd.exe
From the search results, locate Command Prompt.
Right-click on “cmd.exe”, and choose Run as an administrator.

You can also click once on the Command Prompt above and use the Shift, Ctrl, and Enter command combination.

Method 4 – Use the Task Manager to run Elevated Privileges with Command Prompt

The Taskbar can be yet another perfect option for launching most of your applications and Windows tools. It can also be used for launching Command Prompt with the administrative privileges.

Here are the steps involved in the task –

Right-click on the taskbar menu and choose Task Manager. You may also launch Task Manager using Ctrl + Shift and Esc
Click on the File menu and click on Run New Task.
On the new dialog box, type in cmd.exe in the text box and hit enter.
Don’t forget to check the box for Create this task with administrative privileges
Click on OK

The task manager runs as an administrator. That would make it one of the best options as you would not get the UAC prompt.

How to Run Windows Elevated Privileges from Command Prompt on Windows 7 or Vista?

While the steps featured in the previous actions have been based on the Windows 10 operating system. However, if you are on Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you can follow tips outlined here for the Windows 7 or Windows Vista editions.

Some of the options that can be helpful would include the following –

Method 1 – Use the Command Prompt as an administrator directly

The technique should be equivalent to the one used on the Windows 10 device, as explained in the previous steps. The actual execution will slightly change.

Here are the steps that you would need to follow –

Click on START
Choose All Programs and then click on
You should find the option for the Command Prompt.
Right-click on it and click on Run as an Administrator.

You will need to accept the UAC when you are prompted.

Method 2 – Create an Elevated Command Prompt Shortcut

Creating a shortcut to the Command Prompt may be a good idea to launch the Command Prompt as an administrator. This will let you create an elevated Command Prompt as a shortcut pinned to the taskbar or on the desktop.

Here is how you would be able to do it –

Click on START.
Choose the option All Programs and then
You will now find a shortcut for the application Command Prompt.
Right-click on it and choose either of the options among Pin to Start Menu, or Pin to Taskbar
You can even drag it on your desktop if needed.

Once it is placed where you would want it, right-click on it and choose Properties.

In the Properties screen, click on the Advanced button. Check the box for Run as an administrator and click on OK. Next, click on OK once again to exit the properties of the shortcut.

That will do it. Your Command Prompt shortcut will begin working with elevated privileges.

Anything else one needs to Know about Elevated Command Prompts?

Well, the above discussion may provide you with an impression that all the Command Prompt tasks will need you to go with the Elevated privileges. That isn’t true. The standard Command Prompt should get most of the tasks done without issues.

If you want the Command Prompt to have elevated privileges, there are a few options you need to satisfy. Somewhat on the lines of system requirements, make sure that you have the following prerequisites and meet them –

Your Windows user account should have administrative privileges.
You should have access to the password for the right account that has the administrative privileges if the user account you are currently using does not have the administrative privileges.

In most cases, the administrative account and user account will remain the same when you have a personal or home computer. The issues can arise only in the case of work computers.

The standard Command prompt will ideally open to the user’s account, typically located in the C:Users. An elevated Command Prompt will open to the system32 folder.

There are a few other options that should be helpful enough in letting you open the Command Prompt with the elevated privileges. One of the best options can be the ‘run as’ command.

The Syntax of the command would read

runas /noprofile /user:Administrator cmd

The Concluding Thoughts

That was all we have concerning the Command Prompt. We have explained various ways to launch it with the administrative privileges. Some of the programs and commands will specifically need access to elevated privileges. They can generate an error when you use those commands with the regular Command Prompt.

One a prime example of this issue is the SFC command, which is one of the most commonly used troubleshooting issues. This will not work without administrative privileges. In such cases, it would be quite evident that you need to have access to the command Prompt with administrative or elevated rights.