Windows – Disable UAC for a specific program (Windows 10)

uacwindows 10windows-registry

On Windows 8.1, the following registry change allowed a user with Administrator privileges to launch a particular application without the User Access Control popup warning about changes being made to the computer:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers]
"C:\\path\\to\\app\MyApp.exe"="RunAsInvoker"

For example, to open Registry Editor or merge .reg files with the UAC prompt:

"C:\\Windows\\regedit.exe"="RunAsInvoker"

Can't get this to work on Windows 10 – the UAC prompt happens regardless. Is this possible on Windows 10?

Best Answer

You can do this with Task Scheduler. This will be much better than mucking around with the Registry which can go bad all too easily.

Disable UAC for a Specific App

Windows: User Account Control can be obnoxious when it prompts you for approval on certain apps every time.

Tips and tricks blog MakeUseOf suggests adding frequent offenders to Task Scheduler to avoid this annoyance.

The process is a little tedious, but easy enough if you're familiar with Task Scheduler:

In Task Scheduler, right-click "Task Scheduler Library" and select "New Folder" Name it whatever you would like.

Select the new folder and click "Create Task" (not "Create Basic Task")

Name the task something descriptive. Enable "Run with highest privileges," and select your OS under "Configure for."

Under the Actions tab, select "Start a program" in the Action dropdown if it isn't already. Click Browse and find your app's .exe file (usually under Program Files on your C: drive).

(Laptops) Under Conditions tab, deselect "Start the task only if the computer is on AC power."

On your desktop, right click and select New > Shortcut. Paste 'C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /RUN /TN "Name of folder\Name of task" into the text box.

This will create a link to your program that will automatically skip the prompt asking for permission to make changes to your computer.

The app's icon won't transfer over, but this can be easily fixed.

This solution can be used to start programs from Startup folder, if UAC intercept them (non-system programs). Otherwise, UAC will block program (without prompt or any clue what happened) and it will never start.

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