Powershell has started running as administrator

Question

Something unusually has happened recently on my machine: every time I start powershell, it starts with Admin privileges by default. It used to be that it would start just as my user unless I right-clicked, "run as Administrator." Now it only starts as Admin. Any ideas? I'm running a solarized colour script at powershell startup, but that's been there much longer than this issue, and is what tipped me off about the problem in the first place, as it shows an admin shell with a light background, as opposed to a non-admin shell with a dark background

Answer 1

Sounds like UAC has been disabled. If that is the case, any application you start will run as admin with no prompt. I can only assume your account is in the Admin group, else your PS could not possibly run elevated.

Answer 2

If you are starting PowerShell from a shortcut or from the Start Menu: I would check the compatibility tab under the properties of the shortcut you are using. Under Privilege Level make sure Run this program as an administrator is not checked.

You might also check to see if something may have gotten added to your default profile script. You will find it here: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

You can also get a normal window by just running from the run window or command prompt powershell.exe -noprofile. This should provide you with a non-administrator console.