How To Run a Program as Administrator Without Prompt

You can create an elevated shortcut to run a program as an administrator without UAC prompt. Here is how to do it in simple steps.

When you try to launch a program in Windows, it will start immediately without any prompt as long as it doesn’t need additional permissions. It will show the UAC prompt (User Access Control) if it requires admin rights to run. Accepting the prompt makes Windows give the necessary permissions to the app, which in turn runs as intended.

For example, if you try to launch Windows Terminal with administrator rights, it will show the UAC prompt.

All in all, the UAC prompt makes it easy to run a program with admin rights. All it takes is a single click. However, what if you want to run a program as an administrator without the prompt? After all, a frequently opened program prompting every time is tiring.

Thankfully, you can create an elevated shortcut to run any program as an administrator without UAC prompt. It is pretty easy to do.

So, without further ado, let me show you how to run a program as an administrator without a prompt in Windows.

The steps below work the same in Windows 10 and 11.

Run program as administrator without prompt

We must create an elevated shortcut to open a program as an administrator without the UAC prompt. Generally, we can use the “runas” command and the “savecred” command to create a custom shortcut. However, it has its quirks. So, we will use the Task Scheduler to get the job done.

Basically, we create a scheduled task to run the program as administrator and then create a shortcut to execute the scheduled task. It sounds odd and roundabout, but it is pretty simple. Let me show you how.

1. Click the “Start” icon on the Taskbar.
2. Search and open “Task Scheduler.”
3. Click the “Create Task” option.
4. Type a name in the “Name” field.
5. Copy the name you just typed.
6. Select the “Run with highest privileges” checkbox.
7. Go to the “Actions” tab.
8. Click the “New” button.
9. Choose “Start a program” from the “Action” dropdown menu.
10. Press the “Browse” button.
11. Choose the program’s EXE file.
12. Click the “Ok” button in the “Action” window.
13. (Optional) Go to the “Conditions” tab.
14. (Optional) Uncheck the “Start the task only if the computer is on AC power” checkbox.
15. Press the “Ok” button.
16. Close the Task Manager.
17. Right-click on the desktop.
18. Choose the “New > Shortcut” option.
19. Type the below command in the blank field. Replace the dummy name with the actual scheduled task name you copied.
    schtasks /run /tn "scheduled task name"
20. Press the “Next” button.
21. Type a name of your choice.
22. Press the “Finish” button.
23. You can now run the program as an administrator without prompt using the newly created elevated shortcut.

Steps with more details:

First, we must create the scheduled task. However, this task won’t trigger automatically. Instead, it will be executed only with the shortcut we create.

To start, open the Start menu, search for “Task Scheduler,” and open it. Click the “Create task” option on the Task Scheduler sidebar.

Type a name of your choice in the “Name” field and copy it. We are going to need it in the next couple of steps. Next, select the “Run with highest privileges” checkbox. This is the option that lets the program run with admin rights.

Go to the “Actions” tab and click the “New” button.

Click the “Browse” button, select the EXE file of the program you want to run as administrator, and click the “Ok” button.

Important note: If you are pasting the EXE path in the “Program/Script” field, make sure it is between quotes, as shown in the image.

(Optional) If you are on a laptop, you need to make one more modification. Go to the “Conditions” tab and uncheck the “Start the task only if the computer is on AC power” checkbox.

Press the “Ok” button to save the changes. Close the Task Scheduler.

Go to the desktop and choose the “New > Shortcut” option.

Paste the below command in the blank field while replacing the dummy name with the actual task name you copied earlier. Click the “Next” button to continue.

schtasks /run /tn "scheduled task name"

Type a name of your choice in the blank field, and click the “Finish” button.

You can use the newly created elevated shortcut to run the program as an administrator. Double-click on the shortcut, and the program is launched with administrator rights without UAC prompt.

You can change the shortcut icon if you want. Right-click on the shortcut, choose “Properties,” go to the “General” tab, and click the “Change Icon.” Choose the icon of your choice and click the “Ok” button.

That is it. It is that simple to run a program as an administrator without prompt.

I hope this simple Windows how-to guide helped you.

If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.