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For some reason, "Run as administrator" is not working for me from the task bar, it just fails to launch silently, for example, if I right-click PowerShell and click Run as Administrator, or if I Ctrl-Shift click anything - nothing happens at all, no exceptions, just silence

I see others who reported the issue were advised that it might be due to their virus checker, but I completely disabled my virus checker, and no luck.

In fact I am able to launch it via powershell -command "start-process powershell -verb runas"), so I think we can rule out the virus checker.

Is there any way for me to launch programs with elevated privileges from the task bar as they are intended?

enter image description here

Victor Grazi
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  • Here is a similar thread talking about [How to start a program as administrator through a pinned to taskbar shortcut, through one of the “recent” files](https://superuser.com/questions/405643/how-to-start-a-program-as-administrator-through-a-pinned-to-taskbar-shortcut-th), please kindly check if it was helpful to you. – Sunny Dec 31 '20 at 05:31

2 Answers2

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Right-click on an icon pinned to the taskbar doesn't give an option for "Run as administrator".

To use "Run as administrator", you need to hold the Shift key while right-clicking on the icon. You will then get the usual contextual menu which includes "Run as administrator".

harrymc
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  • PowerShell does. I added the screenshot to my posting. Other items Ctrl-Shift click should launch as administrator, but no luck – Victor Grazi Dec 30 '20 at 18:54
  • So this method works for you? – harrymc Dec 30 '20 at 19:00
  • No, the only thing that works is when I launch from Power Shell as "runas" – Victor Grazi Dec 30 '20 at 19:25
  • It works for me, and for PowerShell I even get "Run as administrator" for a right-click without Shift. Why do you think that it doesn't work? What exactly is this icon that you're clicking that looks like PowerShell? – harrymc Dec 30 '20 at 20:37
  • @harrymc Your method should work, but OP clearly has some arbitrary problem that causes it to not work. Your method is correct, OP just has an undefined problem that prevents this from working. – LPChip Dec 30 '20 at 21:03
  • @LPChip: My suspicion is that it has something to do with the nature of the icon. – harrymc Dec 30 '20 at 21:08
  • @LPChip I don't think so, if that were the case then Ctrl-Shift click should work with other icons, but it does not work at all – Victor Grazi Dec 30 '20 at 21:36
  • @VictorGrazi: Ctrl-Shift-click works for me on a simple PowerShell icon. Could you try it while booting in Safe mode? Or is your icon not simply just PowerShell? – harrymc Dec 30 '20 at 21:40
  • @LPChip The issue is not just with PowerShell. I am not able to launch anything as Administrator :( – Victor Grazi Dec 30 '20 at 21:42
  • @VictorGrazi the method you use is correct, still it doesn't work. So there's an underlying problem on your end that is not standard. – LPChip Dec 30 '20 at 21:46
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    Windows might be corrupted. Things to try: (1) Do it while booting in Safe mode, (2) Create another admin user account and try it when logged-in to it, (3) [sfc /scannow](https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2895-run-sfc-command-windows-10-a.html). – harrymc Dec 30 '20 at 22:06
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An application that you have pinned to the task bar can be run as an administrator by holding CTRL+SHIFT while clicking on it.

Holding CTRL+SHIFT to run as administrator also works for items in the start menu or the WinX menu.

kicken
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  • This also doesn't work for me. Not sure what more information I can provide - anything I run as admin, nothing happens. I can Ctrl+Shift click any icon and nothing at all happens – Victor Grazi Dec 30 '20 at 18:54