PowerShell is specially designed for IT professionals and system administrators to control & automate the administration of Windows OS and other applications. It provides new concepts to extend the knowledge you have gained and scripts created within the Windows Command Prompt and Windows Script Host environments.
Using PowerShell, you can perform various administrative tasks on your Windows 10 PC. For instance, we have used this utility to determine the serial number of HDD and SSD, determine device driver versions, open the Settings app, obtain the PC’s model number, etc.
Topics Covered
- 1 What is PowerShell?
- 2 How to open or run PowerShell as Administrator using the Run Command box?
- 3 How to launch PowerShell as Administrator from Command Prompt or WinX Menu?
- 4 How to start or open PowerShell as Administrator from Windows 10 Task Manager?
- 5 How to open or begin PowerShell as Administrator from Start Menu?
What is PowerShell?
According to Microsoft, “PowerShell is a cross-platform task automation solution made up of a command-line shell, a scripting language, and a configuration management framework. PowerShell runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS.”
PowerShell is a modern command shell that combines the best features of other popular shells. Unlike most shells that only accept and return text, PowerShell accepts and returns .NET objects also. The shell includes the following features:-
- Robust command-line history
- Tab completion and command prediction
- Supports command and parameter aliases
- Pipeline for chaining commands
- The in-console help system, similar to Unix manpages
As you can see above, various tasks can be performed using Windows PowerShell. This post will see the different ways to open PowerShell as an Administrator in Windows 10. These are the following:-
- Open or run PowerShell as Administrator using the Run Dialog box.
- Launch PowerShell as Administrator from Command Prompt or WinX Menu.
- Start PowerShell as Administrator from Windows Task Manager.
- Begin PowerShell as Administrator from Start Menu.
How to open or run PowerShell as Administrator using the Run Command box?
To open or run the Windows PowerShell as administrator on Windows using the Run dialog box, perform the following steps:-
Step 1. Press
Step 2. In the Run dialog box that opens, type the following and hit
Powershell

Step 3. You will notice that the Windows PowerShell window has opened with current user rights. To switch it with administrator rights, copy and paste the following command and hit
Start-Process powershell -Verb runAs

If User Account Control appears, click the
Step 4. Now another Windows PowerShell window will open with administrative rights.

Alternatively, open the Run dialog box by pressing the
How to launch PowerShell as Administrator from Command Prompt or WinX Menu?
To open the PowerShell as Administrator from Command Prompt, do the following steps:-
Step 1. Open the Command Prompt with administrative rights.
Step 2. In the elevated Command Prompt, type the following and hit
PowerShell

Note: If you are using the latest update of Windows 10, it may not work.
In Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft has added PowerShell to the WinX menu. Press the

How to start or open PowerShell as Administrator from Windows 10 Task Manager?
Windows 10 Task Manager can be used to open or launch PowerShell as Administrator. Earlier in Gear Up Windows, we had seen the steps to run File Explorer with Admin Rights using Task Manager in Windows 10.
To launch the PowerShell as Administrator from Windows 10 Task Manager, perform the following steps:-
Step 1. Launch the Task Manager by pressing

Step 2. Click on the

Step 3. A new dialog box opens “Create new task.”
Step 4. Type

Step 5. Finally, click the
How to open or begin PowerShell as Administrator from Start Menu?
This is the easiest method to open PowerShell as an Administrator. To run the PowerShell as Administrator, perform the following steps:-
Step 1. Click on the
Step 2. On the top search result, right-click on the

Once you complete the above steps, PowerShell will open with administrator or full rights.