Official documentation
User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation
Microsoft Learn, 2026
Read the originalRead on October 16, 2026
- What it is
- Microsoft's reference for the Windows security policy that decides whether administrator prompts (elevation requests) appear on the secure desktop. It describes how the secure desktop differs from the normal desktop and why it is isolated.
- How much weight it carries
- Official Microsoft reference for Windows 10 and Windows 11. It describes the security design of the prompt, not how any dictation tool behaves, so it can show why other programs cannot send input there but cannot say whether a particular tool does.
Facts taken from this source
- Microsoft says the secure desktop used for administrator prompts allows only trusted processes running as SYSTEM, so nothing runs there at the user's privilege level.
“only trusted processes running as SYSTEM are allowed to run here (that is, nothing is running at the user’s privilege level)” (Reference)