How to Automatically Elevate a Batch file to Run it as Administrator?

To elevate batch files manually, you would right-click on it and choose Run as Administrator. Here is a way to automatically elevate a batch file that requires elevated privileges to run correctly. This is equivalent to choosing “Run as Administrator” by right-clicking a batch file. In either case, the UAC prompt would still show up.

Automatically Elevating a Batch File

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:: Elevate.cmd - Version 45
:: Automatically check & get admin rights
:: see "https://stackoverflow.com/a/12264592/1016343" for description
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 @echo off
 CLS
 ECHO.
 ECHO =============================
 ECHO Running Admin shell
 ECHO =============================

:init
 setlocal DisableDelayedExpansion
 set cmdInvoke=1
 set winSysFolder=System32
 set "batchPath=%~dpnx0"
 rem this works also from cmd shell, other than %~0
 for %%k in (%0) do set batchName=%%~nk
 set "vbsGetPrivileges=%temp%\OEgetPriv_%batchName%.vbs"
 setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

:checkPrivileges
  NET FILE 1>NUL 2>NUL
  if '%errorlevel%' == '0' ( goto gotPrivileges ) else ( goto getPrivileges )

:getPrivileges
  if '%1'=='ELEV' (echo ELEV & shift /1 & goto gotPrivileges)
  ECHO.
  ECHO **************************************
  ECHO Invoking UAC for Privilege Escalation
  ECHO **************************************

  ECHO Set UAC = CreateObject^("Shell.Application"^) > "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  ECHO args = "ELEV " >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  ECHO For Each strArg in WScript.Arguments >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  ECHO args = args ^& strArg ^& " "  >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  ECHO Next >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  
  if '%cmdInvoke%'=='1' goto InvokeCmd 

  ECHO UAC.ShellExecute "!batchPath!", args, "", "runas", 1 >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  goto ExecElevation

:InvokeCmd
  ECHO args = "/c """ + "!batchPath!" + """ " + args >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"
  ECHO UAC.ShellExecute "%SystemRoot%\%winSysFolder%\cmd.exe", args, "", "runas", 1 >> "%vbsGetPrivileges%"

:ExecElevation
 "%SystemRoot%\%winSysFolder%\WScript.exe" "%vbsGetPrivileges%" %*
 exit /B

:gotPrivileges
 setlocal & cd /d %~dp0
 if '%1'=='ELEV' (del "%vbsGetPrivileges%" 1>nul 2>nul  &  shift /1)

 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 ::START
 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 REM Run shell as admin (example) - put here code as you like

Add your instructions to this .bat file under the “START” label.

This batch file creates a Vbscript file which then re-launches the batch file as administrator (if it’s not already running under administrator privileges) using the “runas” parameter which is needed to elevate it. The Vbscript & “runas” method has been covered in my old post Vbscripts and UAC elevation in Windows Vista and Higher.

Credits to Matt at Stack Overflow for this method. windows – How can I auto-elevate my batch file, so that it requests from UAC administrator rights if required?

Running Batch Files Elevated by Default

Besides the above automatic elevation method, from the client’s side you can tweak the registry so that batch files will always start elevated, showing the UAC prompt. This is done by changing the default double-click action from “open” to “runas” in the registry. Use these steps:

Start Regedit.exe and go to the following location:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell

Double-click (default) and set its value data as runas

Exit the Registry Editor.

After this change, batch files will always run elevated when double-clicked. Run as administrator would be the default option shown when you right-click a .bat file.