<info> <desc>Use administrative privileges to edit a file.</desc> </info>

Editing files as the root user is potentially dangerous, and may break your system in bad ways. Take great care when editing files as the root user.

To edit files as the root user, launch <app>gedit</app> from the terminal by entering:

`sudo gedit`

Using the <cmd>sudo</cmd> command, you will need to successfully enter your password before <app>gedit</app> will open.

As an alternative to the <cmd>sudo</cmd> command, you may obtain administrative privileges by entering:

`su -`

You would then launch <app>gedit</app> using the <cmd>gedit</cmd> command.

Once you have opened <app>gedit</app> with administrative privileges, <app>gedit</app> will keep those privileges until you close it.