How to Always Open Command Prompt as Administrator

Do you need to open Command Prompt frequently with admin rights? Here’s a simple trick to always open Command Prompt as an admin.

When using Command Prompt, you can do most things without admin rights. However, for specific tasks, you require admin rights. i.e., an elevated Command Prompt. For example, running system maintenance or repair tasks, configuring network or security settings, and managing or modifying disks and partitions require you to open the Command Prompt with administrator rights.

While launching CMD as an admin is a pretty simple task, if you are doing it frequently, you can make your life easier by configuring the Command Prompt to always open with administrator rights. In this quick and easy guide, I will show you how to do it in simple steps. Let’s get started.

Note: The steps below are tested and verified to work on Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Always Open Command Prompt as Admin

1. Press “Windows key + R” to open the Run dialog.
2. Enter “%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools” and click “OK“.
3. Right-click the “Command Prompt” shortcut.
4. Select the “Properties” option.
5. Go to the “Shortcut” tab.
6. Click the “Advanced” option.
7. Select the “Run as administrator” checkbox.
8. Click “OK“.
9. Click the “OK” button in the Properties window.
10. With that, the Command Prompt always opens with admin rights.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

First, we must open the folder with the Command Prompt shortcut. To do that, open the Run dialog by pressing the “Windows key + R” shortcut. Next, enter the following path in the Run dialog and click “OK”.

Note: You can also paste the path below in the File Explorer’s address bar and press “Enter”.

%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools

Here, find the Command Prompt shortcut, right-click on it, and select “Properties.”

In the properties window, make sure you are in the “Shortcut” tab and click the “Advanced” button at the bottom.

The above action will open the “Advanced Properties” window. Here, select the “Run as Administrator” checkbox, then click “OK” to save the change.

In the main window, click the “Apply” and “OK” buttons to save the changes we just made.

That’s about it. From now on, you no longer have to right-click and select “Run as Administrator” to open Command Prompt as admin. Whenever you open Command Prompt from the Start menu, it will automatically open with admin rights. Of course, you need to click “Yes” in the UAC (User Access Control) prompt.

If you like this Windows tip, you might also like the guides below:

• How to open the Settings app from Command Prompt
• How to schedule a shutdown
• How to cancel a shutdown from the Command Prompt.

If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.