Windows’ built-in “Run-As” command allows you to launch a program as a different user account than the one currently active, However, runas.exe cannot be fully automated as it requires that the user typein the password for the alternate account. RunAsTool is portable freeware which allows standard users to run a specific program with administrator privileges without the need to enter the administrator password. This allows you to provide standard (non-admin) users with access to programs that require admin rights.
Some programs may not run correctly under a restricted account due to missing administrator rights. Therefore, many users are given administrator accounts, which makes the system more vulnerable to malware, viruses and other security risks. With RunAsTool, you can fix this. The login information for the application like username and password are read from an encrypted file – You don’t have to worry about your Admin Password.
RunAsTool v1.6 – What’s New – (Wednesday, July 1, 2026)
1. [ADDED] – Password security has been enhanced.
2. [ADDED] – Domain support.
3. [ADDED] – The method was modified to work in portable mode.
4. [ADDED] – verifying the hash before running.
5. [ADDED] – prompting for a password before running.
6. [ADDED] – Option to inherit variables.
7. [REMOVED] – Support for Import Cmd parameters.
8. [REMOVED] – Support for XP.
9. [ADDED] – A large portion of the program has been rewritten.
How to use
With RunAsTool there is no need to use a CMD prompt or any parameter in order to allow a standard user to run a program with admin rights. Just download, extract, and launch RunAsTool. Note: Problems may occur if RunAsTool is moved to the desktop and run from there. Both the administrator and users who will use the program must have access to the relevant folder. Therefore, running the program from a location to which you have access permissions will help prevent certain issues.
1) Administrators In standard user account:
Launch RunAsTool and choose an admin account (if there are more than one) and type in the associated admin password.
RunAsTool has two user interfaces (UI). One for administrator accounts and one for standard users. (Standard users aren’t able to use the admin UI). In the admin UI, you can easily drag and drop any program(s) into the UI in order to give it admin privileges. Standard users can also create application shortcuts.
To change the places of the icons in the interface, simply drag them on each other. RunAsTool has several useful options. For example, “Run with default rights”, “Run as limited user”, as well as the ability to show, hide, minimize, or maximize the launched window(s). As a security check, administrators can use “check the file size before run” feature. If a restricted user attempts to rename another program in order to run it with admin rights (a.k.a. “spoofing”), this option will prevent the user from doing so.
2) Administrators In Administrator user account:
Admins can easily add program(s), then right click it/them and create a shortcut on the standard user’s desktop.
The Options menu contains many useful features, such as restricting Limited Mode, creating application shortcuts on the desktop, and adding a DLL file to the Allowed Module list.
Administrators can also easily import and export program lists. Just click File–>Menu and choose Import or Export. This is useful to create a list once and use it again later.
Standard users have two options to use an allowed program(s) with admin privileges.
1) In the RunAsTool restricted UI, double-click any program to run it with admin rights.
2) If the administrator has allowed it, a standard user may click any program and create their own shortcuts, so that there is no need to launch RunAsTool every time. They can also use any shortcut which the admin has already created for them. RunAsTool also supports domains. You can configure your settings in your Active Directory system and access the tool via a shared folder on other Windows systems connected to the same domain.
Supported operating systems: Windows 11 , Windows 10 , Windows 8.1 ,Windows 8 , Windows 7 , Windows Vista
Supported languages: English, Turkish, German, French, Polish
File: RunAsTool_x64.exe │ Virustotal
MD5: 32f05522749f93b52436d2947912a911
SHA1: 7930d2ee7eeec17ec79aa5c579979975c1fe50f4
File: RunAsTool.exe │ Virustotal
MD5: 25a1099d786dc05d15ad221816828354
SHA1: d22394a7f3c4842ee418943a551783dadcd1b32d
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Hello, the problem is when I try to import a .rnt file into RunAsTool with a System account.
If I open the .rnt file with notepad under the System account, it works.
You can use the tool PSExec from Sysinternals to run something with a System account (-s and -i argument) and you’ll see an error when trying to import a .rnt file from command line
Hello, it is possible that the Admin account you used in the command does not have access to the location.Try copying the relevant files to the location that the Admin account has access to.
Hello, I tried to import a backup from command line but it doesn’t work when using a System account.
RunAsTool show a message error saying the path/file is not accessible even when the file is right next to the .exe
This is on a local path
By default, RunAsTool runs the programs you add as administrator.
If UAC is enabled, programs opened as administrator will display a warning.
If the program you want to run does not need administrator rights, you need to select the program you added on the edit screen and check the "Run with default rights" option in the settings in the right corner. Of course, you can turn off the UAC warning on your system.
Hi!
Why when i run a program with RunAsTtool like "notepad.exe", they show the window: "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?"
There is a way to run directly without this question?
Thank you
Hi,
I have been a happy user of RunasTool, and I wanted to promote the use of RunAsTool in my company as well.
Unfortunately, due to privacy policies we need to consider for legal reasons, that is not compliant.
I understand that we could just not use RunAsTool, but if the privacy policy could be updated to match regulations such as GDPR it would be of great help.
Some examples could be Mozilla or Notepad++ privacy policies.
Is it possible to adeguate the privacy policy?
Hi, For frequently updated files, in the program addition list, click on the file and uncheck "Check the file size before run".
Hi,
Will there be a new version for this? It is a great tool for us to let standard users run a program that requires admin privileges. However; whenever an app/program gets a big update/patch (1GB and above), our users were getting errors running the program. In order for us to fix it, we have to remove the current shortcuts from the Limited Mode and put it back again in there in order for it to work.
We have a plan to update all the software (except a few), we just need to find the time to do it.
Any plans to update RunAsTool v1.5 to latest.. since its lastly update in Sep 2022
Hi Andy RunAsTool does not support network environment (admin account on the network, etc.) RunAsTool requires an encrypted local administrator account to run. It is unlikely that there is a problem with a character in the password you use for your encrypted local administrator account. If you can write a sample password containing the characters you use in your password for us to test, we can try to find the problem.
when ever i write my password i get an error message saying that my password is wrong.
i am using windows 11
Hi, every time I open the program with main administrator user/pass, it tries to log into all other admin users and for security reasons accounts get blocked (more than 2 attempts). Why every time I open the admin UI, all the accounts get blocked?
Any workarounds or am I doing something wrong? This tool is a perfect solution to my problem, thank you!!!
Hello Anastasios,
Try creating a shortcut for the application from the C:\ path, not from the user’s desktop. This should work on all devices.
Hi , it doesn’t support domain environment, Sorry
Hello, so I want to use your program in a domain environment, I have setup every computer with the same local admin account, same password, but apparently, I tried to send your 2 files in C:\Program Files\RunAsTool on every PC, and create 1 shortcut in the desktop of users through a Shared network folder.
This only works on the PC that created the shortcut, something about your "path to runastool" "3 letters code" , if I change that 3 letters, the next PC works and so on.
Is there any way to accomplish a global shortcut?
Thanks in regards, would be so helpful.
Hi, Applications use the profile of the user they are running as.Since the program is running under the encrypted Admin account, the Admin user’s desktop etc. appears in the Open file section. We will investigate what can be done about this.