The “Run as different user” option in the Windows 10 menu allows you to run a bat, cmd, exe, MSc, or MSI file as a different user.
This feature does not appear in the Start screen pinned items menu by default in Windows 10. However, it can be added using a setting in the registry or local group policy.
Non-Pro users can only tweak the registry, while Pro users can make the change either through the registry or through local group policy. Let's see how to do both.
A. Through a registry
1. Press the Win + R keys simultaneously and the Run window will automatically appear. There, type the word regedit and press the OK button.
2. In the registry editor window that will appear, navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer (or in) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
3. If there is no “Explorer” key under “Windows” simply create it by right-clicking on the “Windows” key and selecting “New > Key”. Otherwise, ignore this step
4. Create a DWORD value called ShowRunAsDifferentUserInStart and set the value data to 1
5. Close the Registry Editor. The changes will be saved automatically
B. Through a local political group
The above setting corresponds to the following group policy setting
1. Press the Win + R keys simultaneously and the Run window will automatically appear. There, type the word gpedit.msc and press the OK button.
2. In the Local Group Policy Editor window that appears, navigate to:
Local Computer > User Settings > Administrative Templates > Taskbar and Start Menu
3. Find [Show the “Run as a different user” command in the Start menu] and double-click on it.
4. In the new editing window for this specific policy, mark the “Enabled” option and press the OK button to save your change.
5. Close all open windows.
You can do this setting per user or per machine, according to your needs.
