When you open regular Command prompt from a non-admin user account, you will only be able to execute Commands that do not require Admin privileges. However, this does not necessarily mean that you need to be logged-in to an Admin Account, in order execute commands requiring admin rights,
You can execute Command Prompt as Admin from within any non-admin account and Run Commands requiring admin rights by using multiple methods as provided below in this guide.
Open Command Prompt as Admin from Non Admin Account
A quick way to check if the “Command prompt” is running as Admin is by taking a look at the title of the Command prompt window, which should clearly state “Administrator: Command prompt“.
You can find below different methods to open Command Prompt as Admin on a Windows computer, even if you are not logged-in to an Admin Account.
1. Run Command Prompt as Admin
You can Run Command prompt as Admin from within any Non-Admin Account by using the following steps.
1. Type CMD in the Search bar > right-click on Command Prompt in the search results and select Run as Administrator option.
2. When prompted, enter your Admin Password to open Command Prompt As Admin.
3. Once you enter the Admin Password and click on Next, you will find yourself on the Command Prompt screen.
As you can see in above image, the Command prompt screen is labelled as “Administrator: Command Prompt”, which confirms that you are running Command prompt with Administrative rights.
Another indication is that you will be in C:\Windows\System32 directory, instead of C:\Users[account_name].
2. Access Command Prompt as Admin Using Run Command
Another way to Run Command prompt As Admin is by using the Run Command.
1. Right-click on Start button and click on Run.
2. In the Run Command window, type CMD and then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter keys to open Command Prompt As Admin.
3. When the Command Prompt opens, you will be able to Run Commands requiring Admin Privileges.
3. Open Command Prompt As Admin from Start Menu
The steps to open Command Prompt with Administrative privileges vary a bit, depending on the version of Windows operating system installed on your computer.
If you are using Windows 11, you can only open Terminal or PowerShell from the Start Menu. However, once the Terminal is opened, you will be able to switch to Command prompt.
1. Right-click on Start button and click on Terminal (Admin).
2. On the Terminal window, click on the Down Arrow next to the + Icon and select Command Prompt option.
This will open a Command Prompt with Administrative Privileges on your computer.
If you are using Windows 10, you should be able to open Command Prompt by right-clicking on the Start button and selecting the Command Prompt (Admin) option.
If the Command Prompt option is not available in the right-click menu, go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and disable Replace Command Prompt with PowerShell option.
After this, you will find both Command Prompt and Command Prompt (Admin) option in the right-click menu.