gsudo (sudo for windows)
Posted by jpluimers on 2025/09/01
Not that long ago, I bumped into [Wayback/Archive] Home | gsudo (sudo for windows)
I wish I had bumped into this much longer ago (:
Source at [Wayback/Archive] gerardog/gsudo: Sudo for Windows.
One installer package (there are others like winget and scoop on the documentation site): [Wayback/Archive] Chocolatey Software | gsudo – a sudo for windows.
Via [Wayback/Archive] windows – How can I auto-elevate my batch file, so that it requests from UAC administrator rights if required? – Stack Overflow (thanks [Wayback/Archive] Gerardo Grignoli)
Edit 20250901 (thanks [Wayback/Archive] mterwoord (Matthijs ter Woord) · GitHub):
Windows 11 has a built-in sudo which has different semantics, and is disabled by default.
Enabling Windows 11 sudo
C:\bin> sudo
Sudo is disabled on this machine. To enable it, go to the Developer Settings page in the Settings app
What it fails to show is that you can start it from the command-line using this:
start ms-settings:developers
The other way to enable is by running this command as elevated user on the command line:
sudo config --enable normal
A tricky thing is that command line help is spread over two commands without telling you so.
Windows 11 sudo command line help
There is sudo /? which gives about half the help only for the sudo run command:
C:\bin> sudo /? Run a command as admin Usage: run [OPTIONS] [COMMANDLINE]... Arguments: [COMMANDLINE]... Command-line to run Options: -E, --preserve-env Pass the current environment variables to the command -N, --new-window Use a new window for the command --disable-input Run in the current terminal, with input to the target application disabled --inline Run in the current terminal -D, --chdir Change the working directory before running the command -h, --help Print help
And there is the sudo -h help itself showing the run, config and help options (the help one shows the previous sudo /? information):
C:\bin> sudo -h Sudo for Windows Usage: sudo [OPTIONS] [COMMANDLINE]... [COMMAND] Commands: run Run a command as admin config Get current configuration information of sudo help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s) Arguments: [COMMANDLINE]... Command-line to run Options: -E, --preserve-env Pass the current environment variables to the command -N, --new-window Use a new window for the command --disable-input Run in the current terminal, with input to the target application disabled --inline Run in the current terminal -D, --chdir Change the working directory before running the command -h, --help Print help (see more with '--help') -V, --version Print version
It also reveals there are three more help commands:
The not so useful sudo help help:
C:\bin> sudo help help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s) Usage: sudo help [COMMAND]... Arguments: [COMMAND]... Print help for the subcommand(s)
The more useful sudo help config:
C:\bin> sudo help config Get current configuration information of sudo Usage: sudo config [OPTIONS] Options: --enable [possible values: disable, enable, forceNewWindow, disableInput, normal, default]
And the previously mentioned sudo help run:
C:\bin> sudo help run
Run a command as admin
Usage: sudo run [OPTIONS] [COMMANDLINE]...
Arguments:
[COMMANDLINE]... Command-line to run
Options:
-E, --preserve-env Pass the current environment variables to the command
-N, --new-window Use a new window for the command
--disable-input Run in the current terminal, with input to the target application disabled
--inline Run in the current terminal
-D, --chdir Change the working directory before running the command
References
- [Wayback/Archive] How to enable Sudo on Windows 11 – Pureinfotech
- [Wayback/Archive] Can’t activate sudo in settings · Issue #25 · microsoft/sudo
The second one shows that in the past, enabling did not always succeed.
Queries
- [Wayback/Archive] windows 11 sudo at DuckDuckGo
- [Wayback/Archive] windows start shortcut to Developer Settings page in the Settings app at DuckDuckGo
- [Wayback/Archive] windows 11 sudo enable command line at DuckDuckGo
In retrospect, the first query had the “Pureinfotech” page (almost) at the top of the results. The second query will lead to a blog post later this year.
--jeroen
Image from the gsudo documentation:
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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