How to Open Control Panel as Admin?

You can customize most Windows 10 and 11 options using the modern Settings app. Still, ten years since its announcement as a part of Windows 8, the app lacks many advanced settings located in the classic Control Panel.

Control Panel is an advanced Windows 10 and 11 Settings alternative for managing the operating system. The familiar UI, available tools, and multi-window support make the Control Panel favorite for millions of Windows users. Sometimes you may want to open the Control Panel as Admin, and you can do that using various methods described in this article.

Important. You need to know the Administrator password to open the Control Panel as Admin.

The Simplest Way to Open Control Panel as Admin

1. Press Win + R and type control.
   
2. Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter and click yes on the UAC prompt.

That’s it. In this way, you can open the Control Panel as Administrator in Windows 10 and 11.

Open Control Panel as Admin from CMD

To open the Windows Control Panel as an administrator, you need to know the name of your computer. In this tutorial, we will consider a few simple ways to find out the name of your PC and open the Control Panel from the Command Prompt as Admin.

Solution 1. Find Out the Computer Name via Command Prompt

1. Press Win + R and type cmd or cmd.exe. Press the Enter key or the OK button.
2. Type hostname command in the Command Prompt and press Enter. The Command Prompt will return the name of your computer. Save this name to a file or write it down in a notepad.

Solution 2. Find Out the Name of Your PC in the Msinfo32.exe Utility

1. Press the Win + R keyboard shortcut. Enter the name of the System Information Utility executable file:

   msinfo32

   
2. Find the System Name line on the System Info tab.

Solution 3. Find Out the Computer Name in the Settings app

1. Right-click the Start menu button and select Settings. Alternatively, press Win + I. The shortcut lets you open the Settings app from anywhere in Windows.
2. Go to the System section, scroll down, and select About.
3. Find the Device name line in the right pane of the window.

Solution 4. Find PC Name in Windows 10 using File Explorer

1. Open File Explorer using any preferred method. You can do that by clicking the Explorer icon on the taskbar, the This PC icon on the desktop, or pressing the Win + E shortcut.
2. Right-click This PC in the left pane of File Explorer. Select Properties from the context menu.
3. The most recent Windows 10 and 11 versions will redirect you to the Settings app and its System > About section. If you use an older Windows version or you restored the classic Properties screen, look at the Computer name in the Computer Name, domain, and workgroup settings section.

How to Open Control Panel from Command Prompt as Admin?

1. Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Win + R keys.
2. Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter. This will launch the Command Prompt as Administrator.
3. Enter the following command:

   net user administrator /active:yes 

   This command enables the default administrator account in every Windows copy.
4. Open the Control Panel and go to User Accounts > User Account.
5. Click Manage another account.
6. Select the Administrator account.
7. Click Create a password.
8. Create and save a new password.
9. Go back to the Command Prompt and enter the following command:

   runas /user:PCNAME\Administrator "Control.exe"
   

   and press Enter.

Note. Replace PCNAME with the proper name of your computer you found using the steps above. Here is an example of a proper command:

runas /user:IT-PC\Administrator “Control.exe”

Enter the Administrator password requested by the command line. When you enter your password, it may seem that nothing is happening. That is normal behavior, and the Command Prompt does not display any characters (even hidden ones) when you enter the password.

Another Way to Open Control Panel as Admin in Windows 10 and 11

Messing around with commands in the Command Prompt may look too tedious for regular users. Alternatively, you can create a shortcut to run the Control Panel as Admin in Windows 10 and 11.

1. Right-click on the desktop and select New > Shortcut.
2. Enter the following command in the first step:
   

   control

   
   and click Next.
3. Give your shortcut any convenient name. For example Control Panel (Admin).
4. Click Finish.
5. Right-click the new Control Panel shortcut and select Properties.
6. Go to the Shortcuts tab and click the Advanced button.
7. Place a checkmark next to the Run as Administrator.
8. Click OK to save the changes.

Important. Open the Control Panel with administrator rights only on your home PC. You might not have access to the Control Panel or the Administrator account on a device managed by your organization. Working with a PC with administrator rights without proper knowledge and experience increases security risks. The operating system, applications, and data can be damaged as a result of inept user actions.