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I am the one and only administrator. Is there any way I can alter the settings to make sure it never asks for administrator permission again?

I've found solutions applying to Windows 7 and Windows 8. I'd like a solution that applies specifically to Windows 10.

EDIT: Perhaps this question's bad rating will improve if I clarify that I am indeed moving files between folders within Program Files. This is necessary for the project I'm working on, which accesses files using a fixed path in C:\Program Files.

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    You are moving the files from what location to what location? Certain directories are protected. For instance Program Files and root directory of the system dirve are protected. This has been the case since Windows Vista. If the solution applies to Windows 7 and Windows 8 it also appliest to Windows 10. You should edit your question so its more specific. By default you cannot create a file, in Program Files as a normal user, without elevating the permissions through a UAC prompt.
    – Ramhound
    Mar 23, 2017 at 14:54
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    "If the solution applies to Windows 7 and Windows 8 it also appliest to Windows 10." That's not true at all. Windows 10 does not have something called Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy. It does not have something called local user groups, at least not that can be accessed the same way. I'm not just assuming the Windows 7 and 8 solutions don't apply. I have tried to get them to work already.
    – Kyle Delaney
    Mar 24, 2017 at 16:19

3 Answers 3

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All folders on the C drive, with exception of your own users folder and any folder you make yourself, will have higher security settings applied to them.

As such, you will always need administrative permissions to copy or move files, because upon creating the new files, their security permissions are adjusted to those that are below.

If you have a D: (or other storage location) present, note that this limitation does not apply for that drive.

If you do not want this UAC prompt to appear for a specific folder, right click that folder, go to properties, security, and give the users group modify rights.

It is possible to do this on C:\ and make it prolongate through almost your entire harddrive and all other folders, including c:\program files will now work as you want. Keep in mind, that by changing this on a global scale instead of only the folder you want, the chance of spyware, in particular ransomware, causing much more havoc than normally is big.

Although the folders C:\ProgramData, C:\Program Files, C:\Windows, C:\Users and maybe some others are not set to inherit permissions from their parent, changing the C:\ folder security settings, may change these folders too, which could break your windows.

Also keep in mind, that changing permissions inside the C:\Windows folder is never a good idea. Although the special folders are well protected and you need to take ownership, some rely on exclusive rights and will break, such as the C:\Windows\CSC folder, which holds the offline files for your network.

You really don't want to do this on a global scale unless you know exactly what you are doing.

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  • Definitely a more direct solution. Thank you for sharing! :)
    – Cheesus Crust
    Mar 23, 2017 at 16:01
  • This works, thank you. Don't worry, I haven't done it on a global scale. I just set this for the folder I'm working it.
    – Kyle Delaney
    Mar 24, 2017 at 17:01
  • Uhm... so, that downvote was accidental. Sorry. I blame phones and touchscreens. I'll change it to an upvote if you make an edit (cause I noticed too late and it won't let me reverse it now). Might I suggest adding a warning that changing permissions recursively through \Windows has a decent chance of breaking OS components?
    – Bob
    Mar 25, 2017 at 0:48
  • @bob: although you can undo your vote by clicking the same arrow again, I've edited my answer to reflect your comment. :)
    – LPChip
    Mar 25, 2017 at 9:19
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    @LucasBS When a folder has exclusive rights, you cannot enter the folder even as administrator. The SYSTEM user or TRUSTED INSTALLER is usually owner. You can only view the folder once you become owner, but the moment you do that, windows breaks and needs a reinstall. It applies to all folders you double-click but get denied access to, even though you are administrator. The C:\windows\CSC is one example, there are some in your C:\, for example C:\System Volume Information. These folders are often hidden as system folders, and need hide secured system files (recommended) to be disabled to see
    – LPChip
    Mar 30, 2020 at 20:09
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You should be able to accomplish this by disabling UAC notifications.

  1. Open Control Panel and make your way to User Accounts and Family Safety\User Accounts (You could also open the start menu and type "UAC")
  2. From here you should just drag the slider to the bottom to disable it.

enter image description here

Note: This is usually not recommended because new software can make changes without prompting for permission first.

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    It is worth pointing out that if UAC is disabled on Windows 10 it means ALL UWP applications are also disabled. This means applications like Calculator and Settings are also disabled.
    – Ramhound
    Mar 23, 2017 at 15:04
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    @Ramhound I am reading into it, and I think the change I made doesn't officially Disable UAC. It just prevents it from notifying the users of changes. So general apps may still work.. I will look into it more and edit with what I find.
    – Cheesus Crust
    Mar 23, 2017 at 15:15
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    This is not a preferred method. You would want to change rights on the filesystem, rather than to completely disable security. I won't vote this down, but I will not vote it up either.
    – LPChip
    Mar 23, 2017 at 15:37
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    My brain wasn't working yesterday. You can only disable UAC through a group policy on Windows 8+, if you do that, it means Windows Store applications on Windows 8 and UWP applications on Windows 10 will not work. Just setting UAC not to notify you will still allow you to run UWP applications on Windows 10.
    – Ramhound
    Mar 24, 2017 at 16:40
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    @KyleDelaney - The behavior of UAC on Windows 8+ has changed. You disable the notification for applications but unless you disable UAC in the registry (which will disable UWP applications) you will still be prompted to for permission if you are attempting to add/remove a file from a protected directory.
    – Ramhound
    Mar 24, 2017 at 16:58
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I believe I've cracked this one, thanks to @LPChip:

As explained by others, having ownership of a folder ensures you will not be met by annoyances from the OS.

Customize the ownership and permissions all you want, but make sure along your changes you also* grant full access to All Application Packages group.

That group is the difference between Win 7 and 10.

*The logic is to never break OS access to OS files. By OS I mean SYSTEM, TrustedInstaller, and All Application Packages.

For instance, in my PC, I grant the Administrators the ownership of the whole C: unit.

Then, I grant Full Control to Administrators, Everyone, nt service\trustedinstaller, system, and finally, All Application Packages.

I installed a fresh Windows 1903, made those permission changes in safe mode (so less files are in-use by the system), booted in normal mode and updated to version 1909.

I also had a non fresh install of windows 10 v1909 on a different partition. Made all those changes there too, and everything seems fine.

There also exists an All Restricted Application Packages, which is naturally applied to the Windows folder, Program Files, etc, and seems that it is only possible to grant permissions to this group via Powershell.

But I did not go through this hassle, and everything seems to work well...

...Curiously

Awayting now peer review before turning this answer into a new topic

Bye bye annoying and useless permission request !

I copied without hassle a program recognized as dangerous onto the Windows folder, for testing. The only one that complained was the Defender

Anyone willing to comment about the "danger" of these changes will be barking on the wrong tree, as everyone here on this topic came for this.

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  • So, by setting the everyone to full control, you basically allow a cryptovirus to take control of your entire drive. Not only can they encrypt all files and programs (which will require a reinstall of windows anyway), they can essentially change filepermissions on the fly making it nearly impossible to get out of the situation unless you repartition your harddrive. I'd say that is a reasonable danger.
    – LPChip
    May 14, 2020 at 20:10
  • Agree. It's one of the risks whoever does should be aware (even more simple viruses can enter the PC). Regardless, I'm tired of fixing computers with the most up to date antivirus, all the security mumbo jumbo, and full of viruses... In the end, one is only safe by following the number one rule: Having an external up to date backup. The number two rule is to have two up to date external backups.
    – Lucas BS
    May 15, 2020 at 21:53
  • Hey... So lovely when people downvote only because they don't like the answer, right ? Not because it doesn't work, but because they think that if the answer doesn't follow their personal guidelines, it's not an answer... Awesome
    – Lucas BS
    Jun 26, 2020 at 17:43

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