Can you force Visual Studio to always run as an Administrator in Windows 8?

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In Windows 7, you could go into a programs compatibility settings and check off to always run as an Administrator. Is there a similar option in Windows 8?

I’ve always disabled UAC on my machines, and did the same after my Windows 8 upgrade, or so I thought. It turns out there is no off option, only turning off the notifications.

This means nothing is run as an Administrator despite being in the Administrator group. I need to keep closing and reopening my consoles\Visual Studio when I try to debug (attach to process, not F5), which is very frustrating.

It’s really annoying that I need to either remember to take extra steps to open it as an Administrator or tell it to close and re-open when I go to debug for the first time.

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In Windows 8 & 10, you have to right-click devenv.exe and select “Troubleshoot compatibility”.

  1. Select “Troubleshoot program”
  2. Check “The program requires additional permissions”
  3. Click “Next”
  4. Click “Test the program…”
  5. Wait for the program to launch
  6. Click “Next”
  7. Select “Yes, save these settings for this program”
  8. Click “Close”

If, when you open Visual Studio it asks to save changes to devenv.sln, see this answer to disable it:

Disable Visual Studio devenv solution save dialog

If you change your mind and wish to undo the “Run As Administrator” Compatibility setting, see the answer here: How to Fix Unrecognized Guid format in Visual Studio 2015

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