Detect if PowerShell is running as administrator

Question

How can I tell in my scripts if PowerShell is running with administrator privileges?

I need to know because I'm trying to run a program that requires the ability to open protected ports.

You mat consider to elevate permissions as described in Gaining administrator privileges in PowerShell answer — Michael Freidgeim, Feb 11 '16 at 04:00

Bill_Stewart · Answer 1 · 2021-02-21T01:17:49.857

111

([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal] `
  [Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent() `
).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole]::Administrator)

This retrieves the current Windows identity and returns $true if the current identity has the Administrator role (i.e., is running elevated).

edited Feb 21 '21 at 01:17

answered May 20 '14 at 19:22

Bill_Stewart

1,392

20

While the accepted answer is correct, this answer is much more clear, especially to someone who may read your script six months from now. – Patrick Seymour May 20 '14 at 19:52

score 66 · Accepted Answer · edited May 31 '22 at 06:03

66

[bool](([System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).groups -match "S-1-5-32-544")

Breaking apart what this does:

[bool] - Cast the end result to a bool.
[System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent() - Retrieves the WindowsIdentity for the currently running user.
(...).groups - Access the groups property of the identity to find out what user groups the identity is a member of.
-match "S-1-5-32-544" checks to see if groups contains the Well Known SID of the Administrators group, the identity will only contain it if "run as administrator" was used.

edited May 31 '22 at 06:03

AJM

366

answered May 03 '14 at 10:19

RMazi

800

2

Instead of just posting a line of code, can you please explain what it does? This helps future visitors in understanding and adapting it, if necessary. – slhck May 03 '14 at 15:53
BOOO. Give this man more upvotes – Kellen Stuart Oct 24 '17 at 18:58
11

I prefer the answer by @Bill_Stewart below since it is free of magic strings. – 8DH Apr 20 '18 at 06:49
3

Instead of using -match and typecasting: [Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent().Groups -contains 'S-1-5-32-544' – Maximilian Burszley Oct 20 '19 at 04:23
@MaximilianBurszley Nice one! Definitely an improvement over all those other multi-line solutions! – not2qubit Oct 14 '20 at 22:55
How to use this solution if its for a different process? Like notepad or mspaint – manjesh23 Jan 31 '22 at 18:31

score 64 · Answer 3 · edited May 05 '23 at 21:42

64

In Powershell 4.0 you can use requires at the top of your script:

#Requires -RunAsAdministrator

Outputs:

The script 'MyScript.ps1' cannot be run because it contains a "#requires" statement for running as Administrator. The current Windows PowerShell session is not running as Administrator. Start Windows PowerShell by using the Run as Administrator option, and then try running the script again.

edited May 05 '23 at 21:42

flederwiesel

115

answered Mar 18 '15 at 22:53

Eddie Groves

1,453

2

what if you want a function that exits if not ran by admin? – Kellen Stuart Oct 24 '17 at 18:58
1

@KolobCanyon - There's no such thing as running only a PowerShell function elevated; the entire PowerShell process is either elevated or not. – Bill_Stewart Nov 05 '17 at 23:27
1

@Bill_Stewart yes, but you can return if the user is not admin :) – Kellen Stuart Nov 06 '17 at 21:39
2

@KolobCanyon - you can only elevate the PowerShell process; you cannot elevate a single function. That's why the #Requires -RunAsAdministrator is useful: It prevents the entire script from running if you're not elevated. – Bill_Stewart Nov 06 '17 at 21:45
@Bill_Stewart Yeah, I'll have to use that at some point. – Kellen Stuart Nov 06 '17 at 21:52
1

The requires link isn't working for me. Perhaps about_Requires is the new URL? – Kevinoid Jul 15 '20 at 17:57

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 19 '21 at 07:30

Your code :

invoke-command -computername cavl-ghwwsc3 -command { ([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal] 
  [Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()
).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole]::Administrator)}

is working fine but how to launch it remotely in current user session (not in powershell elevate admin rights because it return my admin isadmin value to remote computer, not current log user if this user isadmin.

Detect if PowerShell is running as administrator

4 Answers4