How to run Control Panel as Administrator in Windows 11/10

The Windows Control Panel allows you to control all the settings for your computer. Microsoft is planning to move all these controls over to Windows Settings, but I guess that will still take some time; and so this, till then, the Control Panel will be used by many. Normally, you do not run Control Panel in elevated mode like any other Windows program. So, how would you run Control Panel as Administrator?

Why should I run Control Panel as an administrator?

Having administrative privileges can help the user in more than one way. However, running Control Panel as administrator will not let you do anything extra. Honestly, you will gain nothing much. Keep in mind that if you are already a member of the administrative group, you already have all the required privileges. However, there may be use-cases why you might want to do this, and if so then this post shows how it can be done.

Run Control Panel as Administrator in Windows 11/10

There are two ways to run Control Panel as an administrator in elevated mode in Windows 11/10:

1. Open Control Panel in Elevated Mode using Shortcut
2. Open Control Panel in Elevated Mode using Run

Let us talk about both of them in detail.

1] Open Control Panel in Elevated Mode using Shortcut

Since Control Panel doesn’t already have a desktop shortcut, you need to create one for Control Panel so that it will run in elevated mode. To do the same, follow the prescribed steps.

• Right-click on your Desktop and select New > Shortcut.
• Paste the following location in the Type the location of the item field.

  %windir%\System32\control.exe

• Click on Next.
• In the Type a name for this shortcut field, type “Control Panel”.
• Click Finish.

This will create a desktop shortcut to the Control Panel. To open the app as administrator, just right-click on the shortcut we just created and select Run as administrator. You will see the UAC prompt, click Yes to continue. This will make sure that the program launches with the required permissions. However, if you are someone who wants the Control Panel to always launch with administrative privileges, then there are some other steps you need to follow that will ensure that the shortcut that we just created has administrative privileges by default and you don’t always have to right-click on it and select Run as administrator.

If you want to configure the app so it always opens in elevated mode, follow the prescribed steps to configure the shortcut we created.

• Right-click on Control Panel and select Properties.
• Make sure that you are on the Shortcut tab and click on the Advanced button.
• Tick Run as administrator and click OK.

This will configure the shortcut such that it always launches in elevated mode.

Read: How to allow Standard users to Run a Program with Admin rights

2] Open Control Panel in Elevated Mode using Run

If you don’t want to do all this, there is a way to run Control Panel with the required privileges using Run.

• To do the same, open Run by using Win+R
• Type “control” and hit Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
• You will see a UAC prompt
• Click Yes, and then Control Panel will be launched in elevated mode.

That’s all.

Read: How to check if a process is running with admin rights in Windows

How to open Run box as administrator?

You can open any application as an administrator using the Command Prompt. To do this:

• Press Win+R to open the Run box
• Type the name of the executable file in the space provided
• Now press Ctrl+Shift+Enter
• You will see the UAC prompt that you need to accept.
• The application will open in elevated mode.

Read: How to run Explorer elevated in administrator mode

How do I run Control Panel with administrator rights?

You can run Control Panel with administrator rights by either creating a shortcut and using it as you would any normal app or by a Run command. Either way, the process is pretty simple and can be executed even by an amateur. You can check the steps mentioned in this post to know how to do the same.

Read: Control Panel will not open in Windows

How do I run Command Prompt as administrator Windows 11?

There are various ways to open Command Prompt with administrative privileges. You can search “Command Prompt” from the Start Menu and select Run as administrator. You can check our guide to explore options for running Command Prompt with administrative privileges. Hopefully, you will be able to find the easiest method to run cmd in elevated mode.

Also Read: Command Prompt won’t run as Administrator in Windows.