The sudo Tool Is Coming to Windows: How and Why to Use It

Running “elevated” or Administrator-level commands is often necessary if you like tinkering with your Windows setup. Using the Command Prompt as administrator is presumably how you’re used to doing this, but with sudo on Windows, things are going to get much simpler.

Sudo: What Is It Good For?

Typing in commands is still necessary from time to time, even though Windows’ Settings applications and easy-to-use setup wizards are often used for customising things. Your regular user account won’t be able to utilise many of them. You should instead execute them in administrator mode. Though it has been around for a long time in previous operating systems, the idea of requiring administrator rights is still new to Windows.

Operating system developers considered a fix for the issue many years ago because of how common it was. One of the commands available in Unix setups is su, which stands for “switch user.” You could theoretically operate the system as the administrator (or superuser) account by default, but you could easily switch to any other user’s account.

While this did the job, it seemed excessive to have to log in as administrator only to execute one command. The sudo command was designed by developers as a solution; it may mean either “switch user and do” or “superuser do,” depending on who you ask. In a nutshell, the sudo command allows you to perform a single command with elevated rights; in case you were wondering, we’ve explained the distinction between su and sudo.

For the most part, this means that sudo is functionally similar to the Command Prompt app’s right-click menu, which allows you to perform commands like do something as an administrator. Never again will you have to keep reminding yourself to launch the Command Prompt as administrator thanks to the sudo command. Alternatively, you may use the command in the same manner by typing sudo do something.

Is the sudo command compatible with all versions of Windows?

as Microsoft is bringing the sudo command to Windows 11, we don’t anticipate it making its way to Windows 10 any time soon, especially as support for Windows 10 is going down. Users in the Windows Canary or Developer channels who are part of Windows Insider programme (builds 26045 and later) are the only ones who can use the sudo command right now.

In contrast to other innovations that Microsoft evaluates in these versions, the addition of sudo to the operating system seems to be imminent.

A Windows Guide to Activating the sudo Comman

To access the sudo command in Windows before it’s released for your version, you’ll have to become a Windows Insider. Even though it’s not hard to accomplish, you should avoid using the Developer and Canary choices on computers that you aren’t prepared to lose data on because of how unstable they are.

It is easy to enable the sudo command if you are using a version of Windows that supports it. To access the settings, launch the app and go to the system menu. From the main menu, choose For developers.

Scroll down until you see the option to “Enable sudo,” and then click on it.

In the Settings app, you may enable sudo on Windows.
Use the Command Prompt to enable sudo.
The Command Prompt is another option for those who prefer working with the command line. Ironically, you’ll need to launch a command prompt window at a higher level to do this. cmd Prompt (or PowerShell) may be accessed by pressing the Windows key, typing “command,” right-clicking on it, and selecting Run as administrator.

• Type the following command at this prompt: B
• running sudo config –enable

Executing the sudo command in PowerShell on Windows

A Windows Guide to Using the sudo Command
If you’re using Windows, the sudo command is easy to use when you activate it. To execute a command as an administrator, just add the sudo command to the beginning of the command and follow the on-screen instructions.