Task manager is an important Windows tool that lets you monitor which programs, services, and processes are running in the background. You must have opened it by pressing the shortcut key – “Ctrl + Alt + Del“, or “Ctrl + Shift + Esc“. However, have you ever wondered how to run task manager as an admin on the Windows operating system?
If you haven’t yet but want to know the tricks, read this guide till the end. In this post, we have covered seven working methods on Windows 11 using which you may easily open Task manager having administrative rights.
What does the task manager offer when you run it as an admin?
If you are a guest user on Windows 11, you can’t perform admin-level operations using the Task Manager. Even in cases where you would like to terminate an application, you will see an error message – “Access is denied“.
Now, log back into your device as an administrator or try opening task manager as an admin, and you will never receive this error message.
How to Enable Search bar on Task Manager in Windows 11
Ways to Run Task manager as administrator on Windows 11
There are a total of seven ways by which you may open task manager on Windows 11 having admin rights. Go through these methods and expand them to see what they hold –
- Using the Run Command
- From Windows Search
- Through Command prompt or PowerShell
- While remaining inside the File Explorer
- Create a task manager desktop shortcut
- From Control panel
- Pin it to the taskbar and open it from there
Let’s discuss all these seven methods in more detail and the steps involved.
1] Using the Run Command
The most effective way to launch Task manager as administrator is by using the Run command. Follow the below easy steps on how to open this system app on Windows 11 –
- Press Win + R to launch the Run command.
- Type “
taskmgr” on it, and press the ctrl + shift + enter keys altogether.
- Doing so will invoke the Task Manager having admin rights.
2] Launch Task Manager as Admin from Windows Search
Another effective way to start Task Manager as an admin is by using Windows Search. Press Win + S, and when the Search window launches, type Task manager on it. Right-click on the top result i.e. Task Manager and choose the Run as administrator option.
One might also open Task Manager having administrative privileges by right-clicking on the Run as administrator option on the right pane.
3] Using Command Prompt or PowerShell
If you love working on Command Prompt or PowerShell for even normal functions, you may open Task manager from here as well. All you require is to launch CMD or PowerShell as administrator first and execute the below code.
taskmgr
Make sure to enter Command prompt or PowerShell as admin first. Otherwise, you will end up opening Task Manager normally.
4] Launch Task Manager while remaining on File Explorer
As we all know File explorer now supports multiple tabs, one might open task manager as admin right from here. For this, open a new tab and select the root drive i.e. C:\. If the same differs on your laptop or desktop, select your root drive.
- Go to the Search icon next and search for
taskmgr. - The system will take some time to search for the Task manager icon as it is looking for it over the whole C:\ drive. If you want to minimize this searching time, you may directly navigate to C:\Windows\System32, and search for Task manager on this page.
- Right-click on the “
taskmgr” icon and hit Run as administrator from the context menu.
Note: Make sure to right-click on the executable file (with Application written next to it under Type). Otherwise, you might head over to some faulty application.
5] Create a Task Manager shortcut on the desktop Screen
If Task manager is something you open very frequently, you may create its shortcut and put it on your desktop screen. We all know how often one comes to the display screen on Windows operating system, it would be pretty easy to open Task Manager from here.
Follow the below instructions on how to create this shortcut and use it moving forward –
- First of all, open Windows Search (Win + S), and search for Task Manager.
- You will see the best matching application on the right pane.
- Well, choose the option – “Open file location” from here.
- The system will redirect you to the below path –
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools
- Here, you will see an executable file titled “Task Manager”. Well, this is the shortcut for the task manager.
- Right-click on this shortcut and select Show more options from the context menu.
- When the context menu displays more options, select Send to > Desktop (create shortcut).
That’s it, you have successfully created a task manager shortcut on your desktop screen. Since your purpose is to always open it as administrator, do the following –
- Right-click on this icon and select Properties. This will default enter the Shortcut tab.
- Click on Advanced and when this expands, tick the box – “Run as administrator“.
- Click OK to confirm this change. When you return back to the Properties window, hit Apply > OK.
That’s it, you have successfully created a task manager shortcut and put it on the desktop screen. From now onward, whenever you need to launch the Task Manager as admin, just click on this shortcut.
6] Using Windows Tools under Control Panel
Though Settings on Windows 11 provide almost all functions that were earlier available only through the Control panel, there are users who still love using Control Panel. If you are one such user and want to know the steps on how to launch Task Manager as an administrator from here, follow the below instructions –
- Launch Control Panel first.
- Use the View by drop-down menu and select Large icons.
- Select Windows Tools, and you will see a list of available tools on your display screen.
- Locate Task manager, right-click on it, and select Run as administrator.
The task manager will start immediately afterward having administrative privileges on your computer.
7] Open Task Manager as Admin from the taskbar
If you put frequently used apps on the taskbar, you may also pin Task Manager to the taskbar and open it from here whenever the need arises. After you have pinned the task manager on the taskbar, right-click on its icon, right-click again on Task Manager, and hit Run as administrator. See the Snapshot below –
How do I Pin Task Manager to the taskbar?
Pinning any item to the taskbar on Windows 11 is quite an easy task. All you need is to follow these easy steps –
- Open Windows Search by pressing Win + I.
- Type Task Manager on it, and when the matching result appears, right-click on the same.
- Choose the option – “Pin to taskbar”
That’s it, the task manager will immediately appear on the taskbar. I hope you now know the different ways using which you may launch Task manager as an administrator on Windows 11. Let’s know in the comment section if you find any method useful.
Is task manager an important tool on Windows?
Apart from seeing which processes and applications running on your computer, you can also view and monitor system performance like CPU usage, Memory, and GPU details from here. So, yes, task manager is indeed a very helpful tool on Windows.
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