How to Open the Command Prompt As an Admin on Windows: 4 Easy Steps

Quick guide to open the Command Prompt as an admin

Written by Ken Colburn | Edited by Kyle Smith

Last Updated: February 17, 2023 Tested

This wikiHow will show you how to open the Windows Command Prompt (also called the terminal window) as an administrator. This can be done easily if you’re logged in to a user account that has administrator privileges. Running the Command Prompt as an administrator gives you access to more commands and permissions.

Things You Should Know

Press the Windows Key + S to open the search bar.
Search for cmd and right-click “Command Prompt” in the results.
Select Run as administrator.

Steps

1
Press the Windows Key (
) + S at the same time. This opens Windows search.
- If you’re not logged in as an administrator, check out our guide on how to log in as an admin in Windows.
2
Type cmd in the search bar.

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3
Right-click Command Prompt
. It’s the option in the results list with a black terminal window icon.
4
Click "Run as administrator". This is the top option in the right-click menu.
- Click Yes when prompted, “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to this device?” This will open a window called “Administrator: Command Prompt”.
- You’re done! The Command Prompt has been opened.

Community Q&A

Question

Is there a command to activate admin cmd while already in normal cmd?

Arrogance

Top Answerer

You can launch a new elevated Command Prompt window with "powerShell -Command Start-Process cmd -verb RunAs". You cannot launch a new elevated prompt in the same window.
Question

When I click manage account on my admin account, it says manage another account and change password. What is going on?

Community Answer

Press the Windows key (Image titled Windowsstart.png) + S at the same time. This opens Windows search.
Question

How do I undo run as administrator?

Liam Townsley

Community Answer

Restart your command prompt and it will no longer be an administrator terminal.

Warnings

Be careful when running commands when running Command Prompt as an administrator. You can do permanent damage to your computer if you run the wrong command.

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Don't run any random command that you find on the internet. Some people will troll others by saying that you should run a command to fix a problem, but the command will actually damage your computer.
- Some commands that you should avoid running are "del", "rd", or "format", unless you know what you are doing. This list is not exhaustive though, and other commands can still be dangerous.
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