As we all know, Command Prompt in Windows OS is used to launch programs, change various Windows settings, and enable or disable some Windows features.
An elevated Command Prompt or Command Prompt with administrator rights is necessary to execute certain commands in Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 versions. For instance, you have to run Command Prompt as administrator in order to enable Hibernation feature in recent versions of Windows.
There are a couple of ways to open Command Prompt as administrator in Windows 8.1. Following are some of the ways to open Command Prompt as administrator in Windows 8.1:
Method 1:
Step 1: Switch to the Start screen.
Step 2: Type Command Prompt and then simultaneously press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys. Note that you don’t need to open the Search charm to begin searching when you in the Start screen. Simply switch to the Start screen and begin typing to see the search result.
Step 3: Click on the Yes button when you see the User Account Control (UAC) dialog to open elevated Command Prompt.
Method 2: Use this method if you prefer to open admin Command Prompt from desktop.
The power user menu or the Win+X menu that appears when you right-click on the Start button on the Windows 8.1 taskbar shows Windows PowerShell and Windows PowerShell (admin) options with default settings. If you prefer to use Command Prompt over PowerShell, you can configure Windows 8.1 to display Command Prompt and Command Prompt (admin) options in the power user menu by following given below steps.
Step 1: Right-click on the empty space of taskbar and then click Properties to open Taskbar and Navigation Properties dialog.
Step 2: Switch to the Navigation tab and check the option titled Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the lower-left corner of press Windows key + X to replace Windows PowerShell option in the power user menu with Command Prompt.
Step 3: From now on, you can simply right-click on the Start button, click Command Prompt (admin) and then click on the Yes button when you see the UAC prompt to run Command Prompt as administrator.
Method 3: Opening Command Prompt as administrator from Start screen.
Step 1: When you are in the Start screen, type Command Prompt to see Command Prompt in the search result.
Step 2: Do a right-click on the Command Prompt entry and then click Run as administrator option to open elevated Command Prompt.
Method 4: If for some reason, above mentioned methods fail to work on your PC, you can use this method.
Step 1: Open your Windows 8.1 installed drive (system drive, usually “C”).
Step 2: Navigate to Windows folder and then open up System 32 folder.
Step 3: Locate the file named CMD, right-click on it, and then click Run as administrator option.
Step 4: Click on the Yes button when you see the UAC prompt to open Command Prompt as administrator. Good luck!
If you are on Windows 10, refer to our how to open Command Prompt as an administrator in Windows 10 guide.
Hannes Grotjohann says
Thanks. werry helpful
roodles says
David says
May 19, 2015 at 3:44 am
In Windows 8.1, I’ve pinned the Administrator command prompt to the taskbar. It always starts to C:\Windows\system32 but I’d like to change that path to my user profile path. I’ve tried changing the “Start in” field of the shortcut associated with this (found in ~\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar) but it still always starts in the system32 folder. Is there a way to change this?
in directory browser, locate c:windows\windows\system32\cmd.exe. right-click attach to taskbar. then click cmd.exe in taskbar. for me the path is c:\users\me\. i got a windows tablet.
snacker says
I have a problem. I have also built in administrator account, guest account and my account. Built in accounts are disable.My account is member of only users group. So how to enable the built in administrator account. Because of I have occur some problems. So can I help u.
Thank You.
David says
In Windows 8.1, I’ve pinned the Administrator command prompt to the taskbar. It always starts to C:\Windows\system32 but I’d like to change that path to my user profile path. I’ve tried changing the “Start in” field of the shortcut associated with this (found in ~\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar) but it still always starts in the system32 folder. Is there a way to change this?
Bob Koniption says
WIN + X offers even more choices. Both of these shortcuts are very useful. One of the apps below the START PAGE [win 8.1] lists a bunch of keyboard shortcuts.
Userflow Interface Designer says
I changed the windows 8.1 user config to administrator as above. Thanks that helps somewhat. My Adobe extension manager still gave “no admin permission” when trying to update the Adobe interface with new extensions. The problem was solved by starting Adobe extension manager with “Run as Administrator” :). Maybe this helps someone?
You can start a program from the tile view as administrator by searching for the program and RIGHT-click on the tile of item. Select “Run as Administrator”.
Thanks for the item.
admin says
Thanks for your input, Robert. I didn’t know that.
Robert says
If you upgrade to 8.1 from Windows 8 you will have the command prompt set by default on the Alt+X list.