5 Ways to Run Programs or Games as Administrator in Windows 11

Facing app crashes or issues while running a program in your system? If yes, you should learn to run programs or games as an Administrator in Windows 11. Windows offers to create multiple user accounts on the same PC. Some of these accounts allow special privileges known as administrative accounts.

These accounts can make crucial changes to the system, which the other accounts can’t do unless you grant them administrative rights. Similarly, some apps can also make necessary changes. However, the right is not given to all apps you install on your system. You need to allow these apps to open as administrator in Windows 11 for that.

This guide will show you how to enable the feature on your Windows system.

Why Should You Run Apps or Games as Administrator in Windows 11

Running a program or game as an administrator lets the app access more resources and permissions to make system changes. This is important for some apps that need more resources and permissions to prevent crashes.

However, even opening the app with your administrator account won’t grant the app administrative permission. For that, you need to run the application as administrator.

Remember that the applications built on the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) or WinRT can’t run as an administrator. These are the apps installed from the Microsoft Store. They are designed with restricted capabilities for security purposes; hence, you won’t see the option even after following the steps mentioned here.

However, if you downloaded an application via a web browser, you can run it with administrative privileges without issues.

How to Open Apps or Games as Administrator in Windows 11

You can open an application or game as an administrator in Windows 11 in different ways. We have mentioned all of them below.

1. Using Key Combo

You can use the key combination Ctrl + Shift and then click the app icon to run apps or games as an administrator on Windows. Once you see the option, click Yes to continue.

2. From Start Menu

Step 1: Search the program you want to run as administrator.

Step 2: Right-click and choose ‘Run as administrator.’

Step 3: Choose Yes to confirm.

Also read: Personalize Start Menu experience in Windows 11

3. Using Desktop Shortcut

Step 1: Right-click on the application you want to open as administrator.

Tip: You can also right-click on any app icon from the taskbar and follow the below steps.

Step 2: Choose ‘Run as administrator.’

Step 3: Click Yes to confirm.

4. From File Explorer

Step 1: Open File Explorer and go to the folder where the application file is.

Step 2: Right-click on the application and click ‘Run as administrator.’

Step 3: Choose Yes to allow access.

5. Open as Administrator Using Run

Step 1: Press Win + R keys together to open the Run application.

Step 2: Type the app name and click OK.

Tip: You can also open an app as an admin using Task Manager. Open Task Manager > click on File > select Run new task > type the app’s name and check the box for ‘Create this task with administrator privileges’. That’s it!

How to Always Run a Program as an Administrator

While there are many ways to run programs or games as an administrator in Windows 11, repeating them can be tiring. Thankfully, there is an option to open apps as an administrator on Windows always:

Step 1: Find and right-click the app you want to always run as administrator.

Tip: If you cannot find the option, right-click the app icon and choose ‘Open file location.’

Step 2: Choose Properties.

Step 3: Go to the Compatibility tab and check the box for ‘Run this program as an administrator.’

You can follow the same steps to turn off administrative access to the application.

How Do I Know if a Program Is Running as Administrator

Now that you know how to open programs as an administrator in Windows 11, let’s ensure the programs run with administrative rights. Here’s how you can check:

Step 1: Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del keys.

Step 2: Choose Details and right-click over any column name.

Step 3: Click Select columns.

Step 4: Check the box for Elevated.

Tip: If you cannot find this column, close the window and open it again in fullscreen.

FAQs on Opening Apps as Administrator

Run Programs With Caution

While you can now run programs or games as an administrator in Windows 11, remember Spiderman’s great quote: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Hence, always ensure what apps you give administrative access to, as getting to the wrong apps can threaten your data privacy.